Another Year, Another Christmas
by Another Dilettante
Summary: A series of Bernard one shots in no particular order. Will include characters from the movies and new characters.
1. The Surprise Gift

Disclaimer: I don't own the Santa Clause or the characters from the series. Disney does.

This is the first installment of a series of one shots about Bernard. Some will be long, some might be short. The rating is likely to change to T later. I hope to eventually add a more humorous story or two. I'd like to do some that take place before the first movie as well. Knowing myself there will probably be at least one darker one shot. As Christmas comes around each year I will probably be inspired to write a few Bernard one shots so hopefully I will add more each year.

Another installment should be coming soon, I've already finished writing it I just need to proof it and make a few changes. It's about Bernard and his first snow globe. Whenever I watch the part of the first movie when he gives Charlie the snow globe I always find myself thinking "How long has he been carrying that around and why does he carry snow globes in his bag?" But more about that story later.

This one takes place a year after the first movie, so the Christmas after the Christmas at the end of the first movie. In the first movie Charlie's mom dropped him off Christmas Eve and he was going home Christmas Day, same deal here.

A Surprise Gift

"Well don't just stand there, Curtis! Santa leaves in twenty minutes to deliver gifts. Go make sure the sleigh is getting loaded and ready!" Bernard snapped at the number two elf. It had been a long Christmas Eve and last minute preparations had been a nightmare so far. That morning they had discovered a mistake in the count of finished toys which put them 400 toys behind schedule. Luckily, the mistake had been discovered early enough in the day that they had been able to make enough toys without cutting any corners or substituting toys that their soon-to-be owners didn't want.

"Why me? Can't you do it?" Curtis jabbed at Bernard's chest with his finger. Bernard smacked his hand away, his irritation rising with the threat of boiling over.

"Because I have to make sure that Santa is getting ready," his voice rose in anger. "If you don't like working late Christmas Eve than maybe you shouldn't have accepted your current position," he suggested sharply before abruptly turning on his heels and heading towards Santa's personal rooms.

When he arrived Santa was sitting in his favorite arm chair pulling on his best boots. The door was already opened so Bernard knocked on the door frame to get Santa's attention before walking in.

"Are you ready to deliver the gifts?" Bernard walked past Santa and towards his closet to pull out Santa's coat and sash.

"You bet. I just hope I have enough room for all the cookies and milk," Santa patted his belly as he let out a chuckle.

Bernard smiled. "You always find room," he walked over to Santa and held the coat out. Santa stood up and Bernard helped him into the coat.

"Are the reindeer ready?" Santa tied the sash around his waist.

"They are being hooked up to the sleigh as we speak," Bernard stepped around to face Santa.

"The presents?"

"Packed and ready to go," Bernard clasped his hands behind his back. Even standing straight and tall he was still shorter than Santa despite being the tallest elf at the pole.

"Charlie?" Santa tugged his hat on.

"He's with Larry; he wanted to help load the gifts."

"And Curtis?" Santa asked, finally noting the elf's absence.

"Sent him to check back in with the gift packing and reindeer," Bernard walked over to Santa's desk and picked the up the pair of gloves laying there.

"Wanted to get him off your back for a while, huh?" Santa asked with a smile.

"Santa, you know me well," Bernard answered with a grin. He handed the gloves over to Santa. "Ready to go now?"

"Let's get this show on the road," Santa started for the door.

"Dad, why can't I go?" Charlie pouted

Santa leaned over the side of the sleigh to look at his son. "Because I promised your mom I wouldn't take you plus it might get a little dangerous out there tonight. The northeast U.S. is getting pummeled with a storm tonight, not just snow but high winds and parts of Europe will be experiencing the same thing. I don't want to risk you getting hurt, you'll be safer staying here tonight" he patted his son on the head.

"But I want to go!"

"Charlie, I can't let you come tonight and that's final."

Charlie lowered his head with a look of anger playing across his young face.

"Charlie, don't be that way," guilt pulled at Santa's mind. "Tomorrow is Christmas, it's going to be a great day and if your good and don't argue about this anymore, I'll let you ride Comet after he rests up from the trip."

"Really?" Charlie looked up. His anger had been replaced with excitement at the prospect of finally getting to ride a reindeer.

"Yes really, and don't stay up late. You don't want to sleep through half of Christmas day like you did last year," Santa wagged a finger at his son.

"Two minutes to go, Santa," Bernard walked up beside Charlie. "The elves are opening up the door for you to get out."

Santa glanced up and could just barely make out the opening to the outside. "Okay, I think I'm ready," he picked up the reins and situated himself in the seat. "Bernard, make sure you take Charlie back to his room after this and don't let him stay up late."

A look of surprise crossed Bernard's face. "Oh, uh, of course Santa."

Both Santa's and Bernard's watches beeped. "That's the signal for me to go!" he gave his son one more glance, "I'll see you in the morning," he turned back to the reindeer. "Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen!" Charlie and all the elves joined in on the rest, all shouting in unison, "On comet! On Cupid! On Donner! On Blitzen!" the sleigh lurched forward and over the village. The elves cheered and yelled. Once the sleigh made it out of the opening Bernard radioed to the control center to close it back up. The elves watching dispersed for the night, their tired faces still cheery and animated.

"Bernard, what now?" Charlie asked as he looked up at the elf.

"Hmm? Oh," Bernard had still been looking at the now closed opening to the outside, lost in his thoughts. "Time for you to get to bed, sport, come on," Bernard turned and headed back inside the toy shop.

"He's going to be okay this year, right?" Charlie struggled to keep up with Bernard's long strides.

Bernard didn't need to ask who he was talking about. When they made it to the bottom of the stairs he slowed his pace. "Of course, we are keeping tabs on him at all times by radar and radio. The E.L.F.S. squad is on call and will be ready at a moment's notice if Santa needs any help. Quentin is keeping him updated on the weather from the control center, everything will be fine." Bernard had to admit, new technology had helped not only toy production, but it had really helped with the toy delivery process too. Instead of just seeing Santa off and waiting for him (or a new Santa) to come back, now they could monitor his progress and keep in radio contact with him, which allowed them to lend a helping hand when needed. It also meant that Bernard stayed up until Santa made it back instead of getting some shut eye as soon as he left like in the old days.

"If something happens, you'll come tell me, right?"

Bernard turned and led Charlie down another hall. "I'll come tell you if anything happens."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Bernard stopped in front of a door with painted red and green glass on the front. He opened the door and ushered Charlie inside. "Go get changed, I can't leave until you're in bed." Charlie grabbed his bag and headed into the bathroom while Bernard wandered over to the desk where Judy had left a thermos of hot cocoa and a plate of reindeer shaped sugar cookies. He couldn't resist the temptation to steal a cookie. He had only had a sandwich and cocoa for dinner and he still had all night to go yet. He munched on the cookie as he wandered around the room. He had seen Santa's room plenty of times but he was rarely ever in this one. He had forgotten about all the Christmas artwork that had recently been hung on the walls. A string of colored Christmas lights had been hung around the edges of the room for Charlie.

Seeing the snow globe he had given Charlie the previous Christmas sitting on the bed side table, he picked it up and inspected it. So far Charlie had been as good as his word and taken excellent care of it. He gave it a shake and watched the snow swirl around the house inside the globe. The snow settled back to the bottom and he gently sat it back down.

Suddenly a pair of small arms wrapped themselves loosely around his waist from his side. He relaxed when he realized it was just Charlie.

"Is something wrong sport?" he gently freed himself from Charlie's arms and kneeled down in order to see eye to eye with him

Charlie shook his head no. "I just wanted to say thanks for watching over my dad. If you guys hadn't been keeping an eye on him last year, my dad would have been stuck in jail and I would have been stuck on my roof. So… just thanks for watching over my dad" he finished quietly.

"There's no need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. I live to make Christmas happen and that includes keeping Santa as safe as possible. As long as I can help it I won't let anything happen to your dad or you," Bernard stood back up. "Oh, and Judy left you a midnight snack," he went back to the desk and picked up the thermos and plate of cookies. "Here you go," he handed the thermos to Charlie and sat the plate of cookies down beside the snow globe.

"We are friends, right Bernard?" Charlie asked suddenly.

The question caught Bernard off guard. "Why wouldn't we be?" Bernard had never been asked such a question before by any of the kids of past Santas. None of them had ever been very concerned with whether or not they were friends with any of the elves. But then again, Charlie was also the most involved out of the kids that had been to the pole. Within an hour of Charlie arriving for any of his visits Bernard always found him in the research and development department. The kid had a lot of good ideas and he was more than eager to follow in his father's footsteps.

"It's just that I never see you very much. I see you around Christmas time and sometimes when my dad is visiting me," he shrugged and opened the thermos to take a large gulp of the cocoa. "I wish my mom could make cocoa like this."

"Talk nice to Judy and she might give you some to take home with you tomorrow," he eyed the plate of cookies longingly. "Can I please have a cookie?"

"Sure, go ahead," Charlie sipped at his cocoa again.

Bernard grabbed his second cookie and contentedly shoved it whole into his mouth.

"Oh, before I forget," Charlie grabbed his bag of clothes and rummaged through it. He pulled out a small present wrapped in green paper with a red bow. Turning back to Bernard, Charlie shoved the present into his hands.

"What's this?" Bernard looked at the gift in surprise.

"You gave me the snow globe last year but I never gave you a present. I didn't know if I would get to see you before I leave tomorrow so I wanted to give it to you tonight."

"Well thanks sport, I didn't get you anything though," Bernard realized with a frown.

"It's okay I didn't expect you too. I just wanted to give you something since you gave me the snow globe," Charlie sat down on his bed with his thermos of coco still in his hands. Bernard carefully unwrapped his gift. He peered inside the box to find a green mug inside. He pulled it out to get a better look at it. The green mug had the words "#1 Elf" emblazoned on it in red.

"It's not magical like the snow globe but I figured you could use your own mug for cocoa since you don't have one and you drink it all the time. Both my mom and Neil each a have a mug that they use to drink their morning coffee in every day," Charlie explained.

"I'll be sure to use it," Bernard gave Charlie a big smile and suppressed his urge to laugh. He really had no idea where Charlie could have gotten the mug. He saw mugs that said "#1 Dad" or "#1 Mom" all the time, but "#1 Elf" was completely unexpected, especially when paired with the mug's Christmas colors.

A sleepy grin appeared on Charlie's face. He let out a long yawn.

"Okay, get some sleep; your dad will be home in the morning. I gotta get going; Quentin is waiting for me," Bernard packed his gift back up and headed for the door.

"Remember to wake me up if anything happens!" Charlie called out after him.

"I will," Bernard replied before closing the door behind him. He carefully tucked his gift safely beneath one arm and headed to the control center where Quentin and Judy were waiting for him.

"It's been smooth sailing so far, things might get a little bumpy once he makes it to eastern Ohio, the wins are really picking up in the northeastern U.S." Quentin updated Bernard as soon as he walked in.

"Hopefully there won't be any problems this year," Bernard plopped down onto the seat beside Quentin.

"What's that?" Quentin eyed up the gift Bernard sat down in front of himself.

"Charlie gave me a gift," Bernard answered simply.

"What is it?" Quentin grabbed the box before Bernard could stop him. Bernard tried to protest but Quentin ignored him. A burst of laughter escaped Quentin when he pulled out the mug. Startled by the sudden laughter, Judy came over to see what was going on. "Hey, Judy, look at what Charlie got Bernard!" Bernard sunk down in his chair as if trying to disappear.

Judy glared at Quentin. "I think it's sweet that Charlie got Bernard a present. It was very thoughtful of him," Judy took the mug away from Quentin and handed it back to Bernard who cast a glare at the research and development elf.

"Yeah I guess so, but that mug is kind of tacky," Quentin shook his head. "It'll be a shame though when we get a new Santa and we won't see Charlie around anymore. He's a bright kid," Quentin turned back to the monitor in front of him.

Bernard frowned. That wasn't something he particularly wanted to think about. The kid had grown on him and found the soft spot in Bernard. He had grown fond of the boy's love for the North Pole and his eagerness to help. Once they lost the new Santa, losing Charlie too would be heartbreaking. Bernard wondered if anyone else would feel the loss as strongly as him. He doubted it.

"It will be a shame," he answered quietly. If Quentin heard him he didn't show it. Bernard put the mug back in its box with a sigh and turned to look at the monitors. "So how's Santa doing?"


	2. The First Snow Globe

Okay, so the snow globe Bernard gave Charlie played a kind of important role in the movies and it was important to Charlie. In the first movie it showed him eating dinner with his mom and Neil with the snow globe sitting beside him on the table which kind of proves that it meant a lot to Charlie. The snow globe was brought up again in the second movie and mentioned by Lucy in the third movie. This short one shot explains how Bernard came to like snow globes and in a sense could have led to him making his own, hence having an enchanted one to give to Charlie.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bernard, his character belongs to Disney.

The First Snow Globe

Sure Bernard had seen snow globes before, plenty of times. But he never actually owned one until his 100th Christmas when his father brought him back an extra from the workshop. Okay, so it wasn't actually an extra one. It had been meant for a little girl named Susie Jameson from Chicago, but at the last minute she made the naughty list, therefore forfeiting her present.

His father had fixed it up a bit and added a touch of Christmas magic to it. The snow Globe featured a Christmas tree decorated with colored bulbs along with a yellow star on top. With the magic added to it, the star lit up in a dazzling array of color whenever the glob was shaken. The light died back down once all the fake snow settled back onto the bottom. The workmanship was top quality of course; the elves took a lot of pride in their work and didn't like to settle for anything that wasn't excellent.

It wasn't often that Bernard received a present directly from his father; usually they came from his mom. Usually she would write "From: Your Parents" on his presents and once in a great while she would write "From: Dad" on a selected gift. Bernard figured out her tricks early on but never let his mother know it. He'd always thank his father for the gift, or gifts, and his father would tell him that he didn't need to thank him. His mother would watch without the slightest clue that Bernard knew that she picked out all of his gifts. Then both Bernard and his father would wonder if the other one had caught on to what the other one knew yet.

Bernard had lived through so many Christmases that he couldn't possibly remember all of them, but he remembered getting that first snow globe. He didn't remember anything else about that Christmas, or the one before it, or even the one after it. Getting his first snow globe was one of his most vivid Christmas memories; it was the only gift he could remember getting directly from his father and it lighted his own fascination for enchanted snow globes.

He had gotten the snow globe early Christmas morning. He had been sitting on the floor beside his family's Christmas tree looking over his gifts and trying on his new red scarf that his mother had made him. His curly hair was a mess on his head and stuck out around his ears at odd angles. Despite being 100 years old, he looked like a young four or five year old human child. If he followed in his mother's footsteps he would never looked any older than an eight year old human child. On the other hand, if he followed in his father's footsteps he would continue growing until he was one of the tallest elves at the North Pole.

The snow globe was the last Christmas present he had opened that morning and only because his father had almost completely forgotten about it. "One more thing!" his father had exclaimed before dashing out of the living room. Bernard looked to his mother for an answer, only to find that she was just as confused as him. His father quickly returned with a small box wrapped in shiny blue paper with a gold bow on top. "Bernard, this is for you," he gave his son a crooked smile. "Be careful, it's fragile," he warned as he handed the box over to his son.

Taking the warning to heart, Bernard gently sat the box down on the floor in front of him and glanced back up at his dad slightly confused.

"Don't just sit there, open it!" his dad laughed as he sat back down on the couch beside his wife and put his arm around her. Bernard lifted the lid off of the box and glanced inside carefully like he expected something to jump out at him.

"What is it?" his mother asked impatiently. She was leaning forward as if to see in the box herself. Bernard had never received a present from either one of them without her knowing what it was ahead of time.

"It's a snow globe," Bernard informed her. Reaching into the box, he gently lifted the snow globe out and held it close to his face for a better look. Even the small, intricate details didn't escape his scrutinizing eyes, including the little bows and ribbon on the small gifts resting beneath the tree and the white garland that winded around the tree.

"Shake it," his dad instructed. "It's not just an ordinary snow globe, shake it and you'll see why." Bernard shook the snow globe and a grin immediately erupted on his face. He turned it around in his hands to inspect the brilliant light of the star from all angles.

"When I was about your age I went through a phase where I collected snow globes for about a hundred and fifty years," his father explained. "I saw it and thought maybe you'd like it."

Bernard's mom motioned for him to bring the snow globe over to her. "How'd you get started on collecting them?" he asked as he handed the snow globe over to his mom to let her look at it.

"It started on my first day in the workshop. I had finished my schooling and training and I was on my first tour of the work shop as a new worker. I saw all kinds of toys being made that day, but it was the snow globes that stuck out to me. An elf was sitting on a wooden table assembling a snowman snow globe," he stared across the room at the Christmas tree, lost in the memory. "The snowman was wearing a green and red striped scarf but," he frowned, "that's the only detail I can recall. It happened too long ago to remember all the details of the snow globe," he shook his head.

"Did you ever make any yourself?" Bernard took the snow globe back from his mom and moved back to his spot on the floor. After one more survey of the enchanted snow globe he put it back in the box and sat it under the tree.

"I tried, but I found them much more enjoyable to collect than make. I just wasn't cut out for that line of work in the long run, I prefer painting toys, I'm much better at it," right after he finished speaking his stomach let out a grumble.

"I'll take that as my cue to make some breakfast," Bernard's mother laughed. "Bernard, be a dear and clean up the wrapping paper," she added as she climbed off of the couch.

Bernard watched his mom disappear into the kitchen then turned his attention back to the shiny blue box under the tree. He pulled the snow globe back out of the box and stared down at it. His brow furrowed in thought. "Hey dad?"

His dad stood up and stretched. "Yes Bernard?" his arms dropped back to his sides.

Bernard looked up at his dad with hopeful eyes. "Do you think you could show me how to make a snow globe sometime?"

"Of course," his dad ruffled his hair affectionately. "I bet you'd be a lot better at it than me."


	3. The Worst Santa Ever

Alright, I wanted to update now that Christmas is coming up soon. I wasn't really into writing this chapter, and unfortunately I think it shows. I had started this last year and just found it again. I edited it and finished it up. I'm hoping to add more chapters before Christmas, any suggestions for a one shot are welcomed. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Its much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Santa Clause or any of the characters from it

The Worst Santa Ever

"How's the list coming along?" Bernard asked a female naughty and nice center elf as he stepped up onto the platform housing the printer and globe. The elf wore one of the outfits that were reminiscent of jail attire, and personally one of Bernard's least favorite elf outfits in the North Pole. He still found it hard to believe that anyone had thought the outfits had been a good choice or even that they had stuck.

"Almost done, we are finishing up "z" now," she glanced over at the two elves packing the last box of the list. She hit a few buttons and the printer turned off.

Bernard stepped off the naughty and nice platform to the rows of red boxes stacked four boxes high. He started pulling off lids to inspect the paper inside to make sure everything was in order. "Everything except for z is packed up then?" he placed the lid back onto the "y" box.

"Yes, sir," she was unfazed by the prospect of shipping the list to Santa. This wasn't the first time they had shipped the list out; it had been done several times before. Like all the other elves she knew that they had gotten a new Santa and seeing how he hadn't shown up since last Christmas, the need to ship the list out didn't surprise her.

Not every Santa chose to get very involved at the pole. Bernard had seen a lot of Santa's come and go over his lifetime. He had learned not to expect every Santa to be good at, or for that matter, even want the job of Santa. Some Santa's were better than others, some were even down right awful at the job, but that's why Bernard was there to keep things running smoothly year after year. If the elves were able to deliver the gifts on their own they wouldn't even need a Santa, but there were rules of Christmas and they had to follow them even if they ended up with a bad Santa.

So far the new Santa was beginning to seem like one of the Santa's that would only check the list and deliver the presents without checking up on progress at the pole. This wasn't the type of Santa Bernard preferred, but seeing how Scott Calvin hadn't been very thrilled about his new job, Bernard would rather have him stay out of the way and leave things up to him instead of causing problems at the pole. He had been somewhat fond of the last Santa, he wasn't the best at his job but he was good enough. After meeting Scott Bernard found himself missing the last Santa more than he had expected to.

He slipped a piece of paper into the first box of the list to remind Santa to check the list twice. He really, really hoped that Scott would check the list on his own. Thanksgiving marked the beginning of the North Pole's crunch time and without Santa there to help, all final preparations were up to Bernard. The elves knew what they were doing (they had been doing this for hundreds of years after all) but if any problems arose, Bernard needed to be there to take care of them, not walking Santa through the list.

"Okay, all ready, sir," the male elf announced to Bernard as he placed the last piece of paper in the "Z" box and put the lid on. If the previous Santa hadn't fallen off a roof, right now he'd be at the desk in his office with a cup of hot cocoa while he started checking through the list. Bernard sighed at the thought. He really did miss that Santa. Bernard reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out a piece of paper. "Have the list shipped to Scott Calvin," Bernard held the paper out to the elf. "His name and address is on this. Make sure it's sent ASAP."

"Will do," the elf plucked the piece of paper out of Bernard's hand and hurried off to enlist the other naughty and nice center elves in helping with getting the boxes shipped off. Satisfied that the list would be delivered to Santa in time, Bernard left to make another round in the workshop before grabbing some lunch. He had skipped breakfast but food still didn't sound very good to him right now, probably due to the growing sinking feeling in his stomach. This was going to be a bad Christmas, he could just feel it. Something was going to go terribly wrong, call it Head Elf intuition but he knew something bad was working its way towards Christmas this year. That sinking feeling in his gut was never wrong. It reminded him of the last time that feeling had crept up on him over a century ago. He really didn't want to deal with another horrible Santa, although he doubted that Scott Calvin could give him a worse night than Benjamin Nolan had.

XXX

Christmas Eve – 1841

"Still no word from Santa?" Quentin asked in his rich accent as he slid out from under the sleigh.

"Still nothing," Bernard let out a small sigh. "We've been sending reindeer to get him since Thanksgiving but he refuses to go anywhere near them." Bernard rubbed his temples; he could feel the beginning of a headache forming. "I've sent him letters but he seems to be ignoring all of them, I haven't gotten back a single reply. I even showed up at his house a dozen times only to find him passed out or so drunk I couldn't understand him."

"I'm sorry to say it but it looks like you're in for a hard night," Quentin wiped his hands on a rag. "If it makes you feel any better the sleigh is ready to go. I got the new stabilizers put on. I've tested and checked them twice since they've been put on so there shouldn't be any surprise problems with them. The presents just need loaded and the reindeer hooked up," he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Now all we need is Santa," Bernard crossed his arms over his chest. A frown played across his lips.

"At times like these, don't you wish you could deliver the gifts? You are the head elf after all," Quentin climbed up in the sleigh and sat down, angling himself in Bernard's direction.

"It would be a lot easier than trying to drag some of these Santa's we've had to do it. But even if I could deliver the gifts, I don't know how well I could handle the dusty chimneys and aggressive dogs," the edges of his mouth turned up in a slight smile at the thought.

Quentin grinned. "Aw, why not? You don't want to get the back of your pants ripped up by a dog? Santa didn't seem to mind it three years ago."

"Santa was also just happy to be alive after being attacked by that guard dog," Bernard shook his head at the memory of Santa returning that Christmas. He had still been on edge as he climbed out of the sleigh. When Bernard had appeared from the other side of the sleigh to welcome him back Santa had just about punched him in surprise. Bernard glanced down at his watch. "Santa has to leave to deliver gifts in just over five hours," his arm dropped back to his side. He really had no optimistic feelings left about tonight.

"Better go hunt Santa down then. Good luck, I think you're going to need it if he is as drunk as he was last Christmas," Quentin jumped down from the sleigh.

Bernard gave him a solemn nod then disappeared in a shower of gold sparkles. He used his teleportation to zone in on where Benjamin Nolan, AKA Santa Claus, was. When Bernard appeared at his destination he found himself standing outside of a London pub. Several inches of snow coated the ground and a new dusting had started to accumulate from the slow flurries of snow blowing around in the cold winter wind. Despite the cold and the fact that it was Christmas Eve and the street was pretty well deserted, voices and laughter rang out from inside the pub.

"Just great," Bernard groaned. A pub could only mean one thing: Santa was most likely already drunk. Setting a determined look on his face, he walked inside and ignored the stares and snickers he received from everyone he passed by. Drunk or not, the men in the pub took notice of his odd attire. He stood and scanned the room, spotting Santa sitting at the bar laughing along with the men sitting beside him. Nolan looked just how Santa Claus was expected to look, that is, if Santa Claus was an alcoholic, which for the time being, he most certainly was.

At thirty three years old, his new white beard and hair made him look ages older than he really was. His big belly was a harsh contrast to the skinny, lanky figure that Nolan had before putting on the coat and becoming Santa. Granted, he was still thinner than most of the previous Santa's had been, but he still had a very noticeable belly on him. Nolan seemed to be taking the change in stride; either that or he was too drunk to care. Bernard wondered if the change in his appearance had helped drive the drinking. It wasn't unusual for a younger Santa to have a very hard time adjusting to the new Santa Claus appearance.

"I had a little girl ask me if I was Santa Clause today. Me, Santa Clause? Can you believe that?" Nolan bellowed out to his surrounding comrades.

The man to his right let out a loud laugh. "If you were Santa, I'd board up my chimney!" all three men laughed at the statement. Bernard marched over to the group and tapped Nolan on the shoulder. The men sitting beside Nolan became quiet and stared at Bernard curiously. Nolan twisted around in his seat to look at Bernard. His cheeks were red, a little too red even for Santa thanks to the alcohol he had been drinking.

"Are you lost?" the man on Nolan's left said with a snicker as he looked Bernard's outfit up and down.

Ignoring the man, Bernard focused his attention on Nolan, giving him a hard stare. "Benjamin Nolan I need to have a word with you, alone."

"Do I know you, kid?" Nolan squinted at him.

"It's me, Bernard," he gritted his teeth. Recognition dawned on Nolan's face.

"Are you playing Santa at the orphanage this year or something?" the man on Nolan's right slurred out as he looked Bernard's outfit a good looking over.

"I think you have the wrong Benjamin Nolan," Nolan struggled to quickly turn back around to face the bar. He had to sit as far back as he possibly could to fit his stomach between him and the bar again. It looked like he was going to fall off his stool at any second.

"I don't have the wrong Benjamin Nolan," agitated, Bernard balled his hands into loose fists. The other men turned back around as well, leaving Bernard standing there staring at their unwelcoming backs.

The man to Nolan's left glanced back at Bernard. "Get out of here boy before you get yourself hurt," the man turned his head back around and stared down at his drink. Bernard could feel the stares and hear low voices murmuring from the tables nearest him.

Focusing his attention on some of the bottles at the end of the bar shelf farthest away from him, he pictured the bottles exploding in his mind. Seconds later the bottles shattered just the way he had pictured. The people sitting nearby let out shocked yells. Everyone in the pub turned and craned their necks in the direction of the sound. Surprised at the loud sound, Nolan finally fell of his bar stool and landed on his back on the wooden floor. "Time to go," Bernard said even though he knew Nolan wasn't paying any attention to him. He tightly grasped Nolan's right shoulder and teleported them to Santa's bedroom at the North Pole.

Bernard didn't waste any time on starting his lecture. "You never checked the list. You have about five hours to do so," he tapped his watch as he spoke. "You won't have long enough to check it a second time, but I strongly suggest you get started so you can try to finish the first check. Fifteen minutes before midnight you need to get suited up, I'll come for you," Bernard used his best authoritative voice he could manage. He walked over to the desk. "The list is right here," he tapped part of the huge scroll sitting on the desk. Twenty-five other scrolls hung on a rack next to the desk. "There's one for every letter," Bernard gestured to the rack.

Santa walked in a slow circle, examining the desk and the rest of his surroundings without paying any attention to Bernard.

Irritated, Bernard snapped his fingers twice. "Santa, are you listening? This is very important. The list has never gone unchecked by Santa before," he spoke slowly as if he were talking to a confused child. "You only have until 11:45 to get it done, and trust me; it will take the whole time." More like a whole day at least for one check, but right now Bernard would take whatever he could get. He had already grudgingly gone over the list twice himself. Only Santa could make the list perfect and as an elf, albeit the head elf, Bernard couldn't expect to fix every mistake or change. There was a reason for it being Santa's job.

"What list?" Santa asked dumfounded

"What list? WHAT LIST?" Bernard half shrieked. Catching himself, he paused and took a deep breath to control his growing temper. "I already went over all of this with you last Christmas. Put c next to the naughty children and a p next to the nice children. Seeing as you waited so long to check the list we didn't have time to figure out who definitely wouldn't be getting a toy this year, so you'll end up with some extra toys in the bag," he turned and headed to the closet.

"The list? Was that all that paperwork I got delivered to my house the day after Thanksgiving?" Santa squinted at Bernard again, making no move or indication that he was ready to get to work.

"Yes, that would be the one," Bernard reemerged from the closet with Santa's coat slung over his arm. He laid it over a nearby arm chair.

"Oh. I was supposed to check that? I burnt it in my fire place, it made good kindling," Santa continued to stare at Bernard, still not accepting what was happening yet. Bernard's hands clenched into fists again.

"You knew you were supposed to check it!" Bernard screamed. Keeping his fists clenched at his side, he stopped for a minute to try to calm himself again. "You have around five hours to check the list, and don't drink anymore alcohol, you're already had way too much," Bernard struggled to keep himself from screaming every word. The effort didn't seem worth it.

"Can't you just deliver the gifts then?" Nolan asked, still completely indifferent to his role as Santa in his drunken stupor.

Bernard walked over to him, his feet pounding hard against the floor in his anger. "I'm just an elf, elves make the toys and Santa checks the list and delivers the toys," he pointed angrily at Nolan and jabbed him in the chest. "Those are the rules and the way it's always been, if not there would be no Santa, we wouldn't need one. So drunk or not, you" Bernard jabbed him in the chest again, "have to deliver the gifts. You agreed to those terms when you put on the coat, if you don't like them then do us all a favor and fall off the first roof you land on tonight," he brushed passed Santa, hitting him with his shoulder. "I'll be back at 11:45," he walked out of the room and slammed the door closed behind him.

xxx

"Here's some cocoa, cookies, and an extra blanket for the trip. The wind will be cold tonight so stay warm," Judy handed a thermos, bag of cookies, and soft, red blanket up to Bernard.

"Thanks, Judy," of course he could rely on her to look after him. The young appearance of the elves could be very deceiving, especially for Judy. She may be shorter and look younger than him, but she looked after him. She was known for her motherly like affection and at moments like these Bernard appreciated it. He held onto the thermos and laid the blanket over his lap then shoved the cookies into his satchel.

"Remember, if you need any help teleport back here. Quentin and I will be ready to help along with the E.L.F.S. squad," she snuck an unhappy look towards Santa, who was just now climbing up in the sleigh. Santa ho-ho-hoed cheerfully but drunkenly, making Bernard cringe. Santa swayed on his feet before his balancing and landing hard on the sleigh's seat. The other elves close enough to hear and see stared at Santa dumbfounded, some obviously appalled at the sight. The man was even drunker since Bernard had left him with the list. The empty flask he had found next to the list had been enough to let him know that he would indeed be driving the sleigh tonight – a first in Christmas history. "Good luck," Judy gave Bernard a look of sympathy before stepping away and letting Quentin mover closer speak to him.

"What are you going to do if, you know, he falls off a roof," Quentin spoke just loud enough for Bernard to barely here him.

"Then I make sure that someone puts on the coat and then I'll teleport back here."

Quentin cast Bernard a dubious look. "Well hopefully we'll be seeing you back here real soon," he glanced past Bernard at Santa one last time before stepping back and joining the small crowd of elves ready to see them off. Most of the elves gathered were from the stable; Bernard had kept the other elves away this year. He didn't want them to see just how drunken Santa was, he knew the elves would be concerned and he didn't want to deal with more than he had to tonight.

XXX

Twenty minutes into the flight and only seconds away from their first stop, Bernard already had a horrible headache. Maybe it was from stress or maybe it was from the way that Santa had been rotating between screaming and puking over the edge of the sleigh. He really hated the sound of puking, that sound was enough to make him want to puke too.

The sleigh landed smoothly on the first roof. "Go deliver the toys," Bernard instructed as he pulled out a paperback book from his satchel. Santa stumbled his way out of the sled and grabbed the velvet bag of toys. The bag rose into the air and over to the chimney. Once Santa started down the chimney Bernard wrapped the sleigh reigns around his right hand and wrist and settled in for a night of reading. All he had to do was drive the sleigh and most of that consisted of short hops from house to house. So until they had to cross over the Atlantic, he could just sit back, relax, and read – or at least try to.

The moment Santa stepped back into the sleigh, it immediately jerked forward as the reindeer headed for the next house, sending Santa toppling into the back of the sleigh. A smile crept onto Bernard's face as he continued to stare at the pages of his book.

One hour later and Bernard found himself considering whether or not to just throw himself off the roof and let the other elves deal with Santa next Christmas. If this wasn't the worst night of his life, it was at least very high up on the list. In his drunken state Nolan had already left go of the bag several times as it flew him towards and away from thechimney. He had fallen asleep on a chair during one of their stops in Canterbury, forcing Bernard to teleport inside and send him back up the chimney.

Bernard had no idea how Nolan had made it this far. Maybe it was due to the fact that the man was used to operating while drunk. Really though, couldn't he just hurry up and fall off a roof or something? Bernard briefly entertained the thought of pushing him out of the sleigh somewhere between houses or shoving him off the roof. Both were so tempting right now.

"I'm done, I quit," Nolan threw the sack of toys onto the porch roof angrily. The sack thumped loudly as it landed.

"You can't just quit. Another Santa has to take your place in order for you to leave," Bernard rolled his eyes at Nolan's latest hissy fit.

"Another Santa?" Nolan's voice rose shrilly. "I'll tell you what kid, you're a lunatic," he jabbed an angry finger at Bernard, who answered with a raise of his eyebrows. "Maybe I am too for going through this sick, fake Santa fantasy of yours, but kid, Santa isn't real," his words came out badly slurred but understandable.

Bernard stared at him flabbergasted. How could a man that had spent his last hour in a flying sled pulled by reindeer and delivering gifts say that Santa wasn't real? Bernard had to agree, the man was mental. Despite the proceedings of the last few hours, Nolan still stood there and spouted his "Santa isn't real" nonsense, and to put it mildly, Bernard was highly offended.

"At least I'm not a drunk!" Bernard snapped. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best comeback he could have chosen.

Nolan huffed indignantly. "This dream has been way too weird and way too long. I'm sick of these Christmas nightmares I keep having. I'm going home and going to bed. Hopefully I'll wake up soon and I'll be away from all the crazies like you," he took a step away from the sleigh and stumbled. He failed to regain his balance and found himself plopped down onto his butt.

Bernard winced at the sight. Surely the noise had woken up who ever lived inside the house. But really, how could Nolan fall so many times without falling off a roof?

Nolan Huffed again, or at least, that's what Bernard thought he did. Really the man just looked and sounded like he was about to fall back over and maybe pass at while he was at it. "Hey, you, get me off this roof," Nolan commanded the sack as he grabbed the drawstring with his hand. The sack floated upwards and propelled him towards the chimney. "No, no! Go the other way, don't go down the chimney!" Nolan shook his free fist at the bag. His feet were already right over the Chimney. Five seconds later and he was already going down the chimney.

"Ugh," Bernard rested his head in his hands. He immediately straightened again at the sound of a dog barking. A minute later and the front door opened, Nolan ran out and across the yard as fast as he could, the dog hot on his heels. He had only made it ten feet out the door when he hit ice, slid, and tumbled over onto his back. The dog slid across the ice behind him, barely avoiding being squished by Nolan's large frame. The dog made a move to jump on him fell, and then stood back up on shaking legs before succeeding the second time. Another man from inside came bounding out just in time to see Nolan take his tumble.

Bernard had to refrain from pumping his fist in joy when he saw the Santa suit collapse as Nolan disappeared.

"What the?" the man below exclaimed as he stared down at the now empty suit lying on his front yard.

"Dad, what's going on?" a young boy's tired voice floated out from inside the house.

"Billy, stay inside!" the father snapped at his son. Bernard saw the boy come into view as he walked over to his father, ignoring his command.

"You killed Santa?" The boy yelled out horrified.

"I did not!" the man protested. "There isn't anyone there, see?" he pointed at the empty suit. "It's just a suit."

"Why'd you get a Santa suit?" the boy asked curiously, as if waking up in the middle of the night and seeing an empty Santa suit just outside his door was completely normal.

"I didn't," the father nudged at the suit with the front of his right boot.

"Are you gonna wear it?" the boy once again completely ignored his father's comment.

"What? No, it's not mine; it belongs to that guy that was here," the father turned a full circle looking for evidence of anyone else being around.

"What guy? You said it's just an empty suit." A moment of silence passed after the kid's last remark while the father kept scanning the yard for the thief. The only tracks in the yard went from the door to the now empty Santa suit, all the tracks from the previous day had already been covered by freshly fallen snow.

"Okay, there is no guy," the father admitted grudgingly, his voice thick with disable at his dilemma. The boy picked up the coat. "Don't do that!" that father ripped the coat away from his son fearfully.

"Put it on if you're gonna wear it," the boy looked up at his father unfazed, and then excitedly added "I saw the sack inside!"

"What sack?"

"Santa's sack of toys!" And if you're not gonna wear that can I at least have the coat?" the boy eyed the warm looking coat.

"No, no," the father quickly slid on the coat to quiet the boy and gathered up the rest of the suit. "Show me that sack you mentioned, it probably belongs to the thief that was here," the father ushered his son inside and back to the warmth inside. "The door is letting all the cold air in," the father complained.

Satisfied, Bernard smiled. The man had put on the coat and as soon as he picked up the sack it would whoosh him up the chimney and to the sleigh. Comet and Prancer stamped their feet against the roof impatiently. Bernard assured them that they wouldn't have to wait much longer. He mentally noted that if the man didn't pick up the sack he would at least hear the reindeer on the roof and investigate. As if to assure him, he heard the man loudly exclaim, "What was that?" from inside the house.

XXX

"Are you okay, Bernard?" Judy handed him a cup of cocoa and Bernard gladly accepted it.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he paused and then gazed at her from across his desk, "do you remember that Benjamin Nolan Santa we had a while back?"

Judy frowned. "How could I forget? He never even got through checking the list once that year," she shook her head in disgust. She looked up at Bernard and narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just thinking about some of the past Santas", Bernard mumbled tiredly.

"You're worried about the new Santa, aren't you?" Judy softened her gaze. Bernard hesitated before nodding.

"I don't think he will be nearly as bad as Nolan, give him a chance, he might prove to be a great Santa yet. You should know better than anyone that the first Christmas is the roughest for new Santa's," she gave him a gentle smile, "Now drink your cocoa; you look like you could use it."

Bernard smiled back at her. "Thanks. Judy." She gave him another nod before heading out of Bernard's office with her empty tray.

After thinking about Benjamin Nolan, Scott Calvin didn't seem so bad in comparison. Sure he had some big denial issues after first arriving at the pole, but hopefully that denial would be completely gone when it came time to deliver gifts. Even if this Christmas didn't turn out to be the greatest at least he didn't have to relive the Nolan fiasco.

"Everything will turn out all right, it usually does," Bernard murmured out loud to himself before taking a sip of his cocoa. Any Christmas would be better than the Christmas of 1841.


	4. A Frosty Problem

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own any of the characters from the movie.

I'd like to say thanks to anyone who reviewed, favorited, or enjoyed this series so far. It's very much appreciated. I hope you enjoy this chapter, Jack Frost is finally making an appearance!

A Frosty Problem

"Where is he?" Bernard angrily demanded from the elves gathered around the destruction in the sorting room. The room was one of the more important rooms in the pole, being the place where the toys were checked for any problem, inventoried, and sent off to wrapping. The sorting elves worked together with elves from the mail room next door to places specific toy orders for children. The sorting room was always busy and noisy, but the room had fallen quiet as the elves stared back at Bernard and the destruction around him.

"I think he already left," a young male elf off to Bernard's side answered quietly. A Christmas tree stamp pin on the elf's green and white tasseled hat marked him as being from the mail room. All eyes turned to the small elf; nervous about the sudden attention he switched his gaze down to his pointy green shoes as the tip of his large, pointed ears turned red. No one else spoke. Bernard scanned the crowd. A few of the younger elves looked to be on the verge of tears, others had gone pale at the sight of the room.

The destruction had started with the cocoa machine in the room, which had mysteriously broken, allowing for cocoa to leak all over the floor. Some of it had also been dumped across the computer station. The mixture of electrical wiring, electronics, and cocoa had caused sparks and then flames. As for the perpetrator, several elves had seen Jack Frost pass in that direction, and judging by the reports of the ice that had frozen the door handle in place from the outside, Bernard had no doubts about Frost's guilt. He knew Frost had aimed to slow production and probably hadn't meant for an actual fire to break out, but Bernard was still absolutely furious. The main room for the sorting department was a complete mess with the burnt and soggy remains of toys littered the floor and burnt carts. This mishap would put them at least two days behind schedule, which wasn't good considering Christmas was less than a week away.

Bernard's bad day had started when Jack Frost had for once actually shown up for one of the council meetings which had been held late that morning in the kitchen's at the pole. The council hadn't been amused by Frost's mid-October record breaking blizzards earlier in the year in the slightest. During the past week Frost had also caused a snowstorm in Florida and Texas. Bernard didn't know all the details, but he knew Frost had stomped out mid meeting in a fury. Less than five minutes later the computer in the naughty and nice center had been frozen, and ten minutes later the elves returning from lunch break had to melt the ice on the doorknob to get into the sorting room, only to find a small fire beginning to devour the computers, parts of the conveyor belts, and bins of toys that once cataloged, would have been sent on the train to the wrapping department and from there would have been loaded into Santa's sack. The fire elves had made it there in record time, but hundreds of toys ended up being ruined by either fire damage, water damage, or both. The computers were now just a melted and burnt mess as was pieces of the conveyor belt system.

"Okay, everyone back out! Let the mechanics and cleaning crew do their job. Go help out in other departments or if need be," he looked squarely at a young girl elf close to him that was still crying, "take a break or call it an early day. Oh, and I want the elves that work in inventory to stay," the elves slowly shuffled out while murmuring between themselves. The group was a sad lot, not even a shimmer of a smile could be found on any of their faces. Most looked depressed, angry, or some sort of mix between the two. As soon as the sorting elves were out, the cleaning crew swept into the room and immediately got to work.

Quentin turned from the charred conveyor belt to look at Bernard. His hands and shirt were covered in soot. "We will need to replace the parts of the conveyor that got roasted. I'm pretty sure we have extra computers on hand somewhere; we can have those up here today once everything is cleaned up and taken out of here. If I get my whole crew to work on this and the naughty and nice center machinery, both should be up and running within a day or two," Quentin patted the charred and melted conveyor behind him.

Bernard nodded and watched the cleaning crew work. He turned to face Holly, the head of the sorting department. "Once you can get an exact number of lost toys, let me know. She nodded her head in understanding; the remains of tears still glimmered on her cheeks. The fire had given the poor elf a good scare.

Bernard mulled over the destruction. Even if it only put the sorting two days behind schedule they would have to make up for the lost toys and with a week to go before Christmas this was one of the worst times for a disaster to happen. Making up for the lost toys in such a short time could be difficult. Bernard was tense from the stress of the day; he could feel a slight throbbing beginning in his head that was threatening to become a full blown headache. He wanted to punch something or someone, mainly Jack Frost. The legendary figure never failed to cause some sort of trouble when he came to the pole.

"I need to go have a word with Santa, I will check back in here later," Bernard excused himself. Bernard hurried off to the kitchens where the meeting was being conducted. He needed to find Curtis; he had stationed him by the meeting to keep an eye on Frost. Where had he been? Why had he let Frost go off alone? His current frustration with Curtis was almost high enough to compete with his anger at Jack.

Curtis was always complaining that he wanted to do more without Bernard hovering around him but every time Bernard gave him that chance the younger elf always seemed to botch it. Today was definitely not shaping up to be a good one.

XXX

"I want him banned from the North Pole!" Bernard crossed his arms and stared down Santa.

"Bernard, calm down," Santa looked to Curtis helplessly for some back up. Receiving nothing but a shrug, he slowly turned back to Bernard. "Are you sure it was even Jack Frost?"

"Of course it was Frost! I don't think one of our elves would go around spilling cocoa on computers and freezing doorknobs," Bernard thumped his hands onto the top of Santa's desk as he leaned towards him. "Someone could have been hurt or even killed; he shouldn't be allowed to come back here. He's done things in the past too; it's time that he is banned before he can cause more destruction here," he narrowed his eyes at Santa. "It would be foolish to disagree with me, I know Frost's antics and this won't be anywhere close to the last time he causes problems if he isn't banned," Bernard softened his voice.

"But Frost is a legendary figure and he is also invited to the council meetings held here…" Santa frowned at the hard look on Bernard's face.

"Santa, If I may," Curtis stepped away from the far wall and approached the desk. "What I think we need around here is institute some news rules. Security around here has gotten a little too lax," Curtis ignored the glares Bernard sent his way. "Instead of looking for a scapegoat to blame the destruction on, we need to tighten up security and make some new rules to make sure this doesn't happen again," Curtis patted the rule book that he held under his left arm.

"You suggest new rules for everything that goes wrong," Bernard snapped at Curtis.

"Well if we tightened things up around here we wouldn't have to worry about things getting out of control!"

"Making new rules won't fix everything! You'll just be punishing the elves for something they didn't do. We need to get rid of the main issue, which is Jack Frost. He won't follow any rules you put in place," Bernard gritted his teeth.

"Both of you quiet down," Santa held up a hand to stop them before they could take the argument any farther. I'll see about keeping Jack from roaming the North Pole unescorted, in the meantime, let's wait until things have calmed before we discuss taking any further actions. Let's get the damage taken care of and get an exact count of the lost toys first," Santa lowered his hand and stroked his beard.

"With all due respect Santa, Last time Frost was here was about eight years ago and we refused to let him go anywhere unless he had an elf with him. He locked his escort in a closet and froze the door shut," Bernard crossed his arms back over his chest with a scowl at the memory.

Santa heaved a sigh. "We'll resume this conversation some other time, Bernard. The council meeting lasted twice as long as I expected and right now I'm tired and half starved," Santa gave a tired wave of his hand toward the door in dismissal.

With fists clenched at his side and shoulders stiff with tension, Bernard whirled around and barely avoided knocking Curtis over. Santa and Curtis exchanged glances, neither spoke. Curtis silently turned to follow Bernard out.

"We really should have more rules," Curtis mumbled to himself as he left the room trailing behind Bernard.

Bernard stopped in his tracks and turned to face Curtis, his hands going to his hips. "Don't start on more rules Curtis, you don't even follow all the ones we already have! Besides, you," Bernard jabbed a finger at Curtis's chest," were supposed to keep an eye on the kitchen and tell me if Jack Frost left. So tell me Curtis," Bernard leaned towards him, towering over the shorter elf. "Why didn't you tell me when he left?"

Curtis's eyes darted around, searching for an escape route. "I, um," he fiddled with the tassels hanging down from his scarf.

"You what?" Bernard stared him down.

"I fell asleep," Curtis stared down at his pointy shoes.

"Maybe you should see if there's any rules about falling asleep on the job," Bernard spoke coolly without raising his voice. He turned on his heels and continued down the hall.

"Well Maybe I don't think you've been doing a good job!" Curtis called after him and immediately froze when he realized what he had just said. His mouth opened slightly to form a quiet "o". A few elves close enough to have heard him stopped what they were doing to gape at Curtis. One elf almost dropped his basket of tinsel in shock as he stumbled over his own feet when he turned to look over at Curtis with wide eyes.

Bernard stopped; he started to turn around but thought better of it. Without another word he hurried down the hall and was soon out of sight.

"Nothing to look at here, get back to work!" Curtis flailed his arms out as his sides. The elves around him got back to work while Curtis slowly moved on, heading, well, he wasn't really sure where he was heading. He just wanted to get away from the elves that were still sneaking glances at him and whispering to each other. Curtis scurried out of the hall, not liking the displeased stares a few elves had decided to give him when he ordered them back to work. They never listened to him the way they listened to Bernard. When he made it back to the workshop he had only one goal in mind: avoid Bernard.

XXX

Bernard leaned back in his office chair and stared up at the ceiling. The ceiling had been painted with a blue sky and some fluffy clouds with the sun in one corner. The painting had been done before he had become head elf, but he had no objections to the ceiling, he rarely looked at it anyway. His guess was that the ceiling had been painted to brighten up the room seeing as there were no windows. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off into his thoughts, reviewing his mental check list. He had received the report from the head of sorting; just over a thousand toys had been lost in the fire or had been ruined by the water used to put the fire out. He had already pulled Larry from the stables for a few days to pitch in with the toy departments along with a few of the baking elves and another ten elves from wrapping. The small research and development department had also shut down for a few days to help pitch in with making up for the losses.

A few of the departments had asked to play some Christmas music to keep spirits up and he had acquiesced as long as they didn't play the music too loudly. The mood in the workshop had been somber after the fire and he had just been relieved to see morale improve with the music.

Bernard opened his eyes back up and glanced down at the short report on his desk from the sorting department. They could make up the lost toys but it would be difficult since this was their busiest time. But that wasn't the issue that had him worried, what he really worried over was the toys being made to make up for the losses. They might not have enough time to customize every toy to the specifications that some of the kids wanted. That bothered him. The children deserved to get what they wanted, not whatever they could make in time.

He stood up and began pacing across his office with his hands clasped behind his back. Curtis had been invading his mind since their argument an hour ago. _Maybe I don't think you've been doing a good job._ Those words kept popping up in his mind, haunting the rest of his worries. Was he doing a bad job? Had he screwed things up? He paused in his pacing and glanced down at his watch.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Bernard murmured to himself for assurance more than anything else. Last Christmas Curtis had been the one to create the toy Santa after all, and look where that had gotten them. He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced up at the pictures on the wall next to him. He didn't look at them so much as stare off into space lost in his frustrated thoughts.

Toy Santa had been a complete mess and all Curtis's idea. If they had listened to Bernard there never would have been an issue. There had been many years he had run the pole without any help from Santa, of course he didn't want to tell Santa that and offend him. Curtis could be very inventive when it came to speeding up production or helping to create new inventions, he had worked in that department before becoming elf number two, keeper of the hand book. But sometimes, well, most times, he seemed to be more trouble than he was worth in his new position. Bernard was always butting heads with him.

"We don't even need a keeper of the hand book," Bernard went back to pacing his office and tried to direct his thoughts elsewhere before opening up that old can of worms. It would do nothing but frustrate him further and add to his already soaring stress levels.

He looked over at the calendar hanging behind his desk. "Five days. Five days before Christmas," he lifted his hat up to run his hands through his curly hair as he studied the calendar. His mind switched to thoughts of the annoyance known as Jack Frost.

Ever since Bernard had become Head Elf Frost had been causing him grief. The first time Bernard became aware of Frost's animosity towards Christmas and the pole had been when Frost had shown up to one of the council meetings that had been held at the pole. Before the meeting Frost had accomplished "accidently" knocked over the huge Christmas tree in the middle of the workshop. It had been Bernard's first year as Head Elf and the fiasco had certainly tested his ability in his new position and gave him a heads up on what he had gotten himself into. The tree had come close to landing on a few elves, a little too close for comfort. The sound of the large glass bulbs shattering on the floor had been heard all through the workshop and spooked the reindeer. A young Comet managed to break through the wooden gate to his stall and went running through the stables. It had taken three elves to eventually calm him down. A few departments had panicked at the loud noise and went running through the workshop in the opposite direction, others hid. Frost had been sent away from the Pole before he could cause any more destruction.

Bernard had eventually learned that Frost only bothered attending the few meetings held at the Pole, he never showed up to any of the other council meetings. Every time he showed up at the Pole he managed to botch something, which is why had he stationed Curtis at the meeting to keep an eye on Frost, which hadn't worked out too well. Christmas was close by and Bernard had too much too attend to without wasting precious time sitting in on a boring council meeting. Unfortunately, Curtis had fallen asleep which allowed Frost to roam freely after the meeting.

He looked back over at the calendar hanging behind his desk. Five days before Christmas," he lifted his hat up to run his hands through his curly hair as he studied the calendar. A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. He bounded across the room and opened his office door. Abby peered up at him from the other side. "Santa needs you in his office, Jack Frost is here."

Bernard fought against the new wave of anger threatening to surge over him at the news of Frost being back at the pole. He nodded stiffly to Abby and left his office for Santa's. The only concern on his mind while he made the short trek was how in the world he was going to refrain from punching the overly annoying legendary figure. Did he even want to stop himself? Not really, but he knew Santa wouldn't be very thrilled if his fist just happened to land square in Frost's face.

When he entered Santa's Frost didn't even turn to acknowledge his presence. He sat in the chair across the desk from Santa, arms crossed across his chest with a look on his face that was very similar to something reminiscent of a young, pouting child. Santa waved Bernard over.

"Jack has admitted to what he did and he has assured me that it was an accident. He has offered to help out to make up for the damage," Santa informed Bernard, who gaped at him. Bernard snapped his mouth closed.

"I don't think that's a good idea. The elves have everything under control," Bernard couldn't believe Santa was gullible enough to believe Frost. Santa needed to learn that not every legendary figure could be trusted, some were even worse than Frost. Bernard had more than enough experience with Frost and his antics to know that trusting Frost and giving him more access to the workshop would be a very bad decision. "I don't want him here at all," Bernard dead panned.

Santa protested, "I am not going to have him banned, Bernard. Jack Frost is a legendary figure and a member of the council."

"You want to ban me," Frost looked at Bernard and feigned a look of hurt.

"I won't have him going anywhere in the workshop and that's final," he glared daggers at Frost. "Now if you'll excuse me, there is work to be done," Bernard turned and headed for the door.

"But Jack-" Santa started

Frost cut Santa off. "I know when I'm not wanted. Bernard is Head Elf here and it would be disrespectful of me to be a burden when he already has more than enough to deal with here."

Frost's fake politeness was testing the limits of Bernard's control. Of course Frost would try to appear polite and understanding to Santa, he could see perfectly that Santa did not know his reputation. He was just trying to get his foot in the doorway to gain access to the pole at some point. Bernard would have to have a long talk with Santa later, but right now he needed to get away from Frost and calm down. He didn't bother closing the door behind him as he left Santa's office and headed back in the direction of his office and the workshop.

"You don't always have to be so rude to me, you know," Frost chided as he followed Bernard down the hall. Bernard gritted his teeth and ignored him. He felt annoyed that he hadn't heard Frost follow him out. "See! I'm talking to you and you don't even have the decency to answer me, so rude!" Frost scoffed. Bernard stopped and whirled around to face the irritating legendary figure.

"I'm not rude, I'm just sick of dealing with the messes you enjoy causing," Bernard rested his hands on his hips as he glared at Frost. You can act as innocent as you want to Santa, but I know you well enough to not be fooled. I should have had you banned long ago."

Frost turned his nose up. "Maybe _you_ should learn to forgive and forget. I thought Christmas elves were supposed to be cheery, your just rude and hold onto grudges for way too long. " Frost crossed his arms across his chest and scowled.

Bernard balled his fists at his side, something he had been doing way too much of lately. He could feel his anger beginning to wash over him again in a giant, unstoppable wave that threatened to finally consume him this time. "You're not the one that ended up with a concussion last time," he hissed through his teeth.

"That's because I'm not the one that slipped and fell down the stairs," Frost looked off to the side as if deeming Bernard unworthy.

"The stairs that you iced over right before you let out all the reindeer in training and sent them stampeding into the workshop!" Bernard yelled at the older man. He glanced around the empty hallway, internally grateful that there were no other elves around to witness the argument. By now the elves were probably already gossiping about Curtis's outburst, he didn't need anything else fueling or adding to the gossip.

"You just can't appreciate someone having a little bit of fun. If you would have watched where you stepped more closely you wouldn't have fallen," Frost's calm, cold tone only aggravated Bernard even more.

"You really think I'm stupid enough to not be able to see what you're always trying to do when you come here? You always destroy something or at least attempt to when you're here. You're not trying to have fun, your trying to ruin Christmas. I'm sick of your antics Frost; you have no reason to be here except for council meetings, which you rarely go to any way. I don't care what Santa says or believes I'm banning you from the North Pole.

Frost made a "pscht" noise. "You can't do that."

"Head elf! I want you out of here, now."

"So what, are you just going to give me the cold shoulder now? I'm allowed to be here as long as Santa okays it," Jack reached towards Bernard, a small swirling ball of snow and ice forming beneath his palm.

Bernard felt his heart speed up in fear at the sight of Frost's cold, icy ball heading in his direction. "Don't touch me!" He wouldn't put it below Frost to freeze him into a living statue and leave him there to be found by some other unfortunate elf. Frost wasn't someone that Bernard saw as being dictated by a conscience, he wasn't even sure if Frost had a conscience.

"Stop!" Bernard screamed at Frost. A burst of gold light and sparkles burst from Bernard and slammed into Frost. Upon contact Frost went sliding back across the floor until he slammed into the wall. His jaw fell open and he stared at Bernard with wide, surprised eyes. Horrified, Bernard stared back at Frost. Without another word Frost disappeared in a whirlwind of icy air, leaving behind ice crystals in his wake. The ice cold breeze from Frost's teleportation magic slapped Bernard in the face, roughly snapping him back to his senses.

He turned and ran. He didn't even bother to check to see if anyone had wandered into the hallway and saw what happened. The hallways were empty, not that he would have noticed if he had even run past another elf. Everyone else was in the main workshop catching up on their toy schedule which left the empty hall of offices all to Bernard. His mind was occupied with playing the image of Frost sliding across the floor over and over again, so much so that he almost ran right past his office. He flew inside and slammed the door closed behind him.

He leaned his back against the door and stared blankly across his office, all he could see in his mind was the image of his magic bursting out of him and slamming into Frost. Beneath him his legs suddenly felt numb, he let himself slide down the door and to the floor where he hugged his legs and rested his chin on his knees.

As a Christmas elf and the head elf at the pole, his magic consisted of teleportation, being able to acquire the names of children (as well as adults but only when speaking to the adults face to face, Christmas magic was strongest with children and the believers), on a good day he could use his magic to make Christmas decorations appear or already made toys. As with every other elf, Christmas magic also kept him alive and young for hundreds of years. As head elf his magic was stronger than the other elves, but he didn't have defensive and offensive magic. He had heard stories of Christmas elves having performed defensive or offensive magic, but only when their emotions were running extremely high. Stories weren't necessarily the same as the truth, and only once had he seen an elf perform that kind of magic.

He had seen it back before he was Head Elf, during head Elf Albert's last year in charge. At the time Bernard was the department head in Research and Development. The head had retired five years earlier and the job had been offered to Bernard even though he bounced from department to department when needed. The department head had liked Bernard's management skills and knew he had the smarts to run the department. Bernard hadn't expected the job at all, but had been glad to take it. That year everyone knew the Head Elf Albert was due to retire, he had already started to go a bit mad, but that issue wasn't spoken about openly in the workshop. It was up to Santa to let Albert go, but the current Santa spent little time at the pole and didn't hold much interest in the issue.

Streaks of grey had started appearing in Albert's hair, something that only happened to elves when they began to lose their Christmas spirit. That had only been the first indicator of Albert's madness. The second came when he started carrying around a teddy bear with him that he talked to it. After a few weeks he had an argument with the bear and tore its eyes off before ripping the bear to pieces and leaving the mess on the workshop floor for the terrified witnesses to clean up.

Bernard had been looking over a prototype for a new toy while one of the kitchen elves handed out fresh cookies to the department when Albert had shown up while making his rounds. The kitchen elf had offered Albert a cookie. Albert swiftly declared that he didn't like thumbprint cookies and made a motion with his arm as if to wave her away. Instead, he sent the platter of cookies flying out of her hands and into the nearby wall where it smashed to pieces. The kitchen elf ran away crying while Albert commenced ridiculing the next nearest elf for wearing too much green.

Maybe this meant he was becoming like Albert. Bernard couldn't help but to shiver at that thought. "_I don't think you're doing a good job," _Curtis's words rang back through his mind and he shook his head angrily.

"I need to get back to work, still a lot to be done," Bernard mumbled to himself as he stood back up on shaky legs. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself and checked his watch. His arm fell back to his side limply. He felt defeated. _Maybe Curtis is right after all_. I squashed the thought down but it was too late, the idea had already surfaced and now he would have trouble forgetting it. "Five days until Christmas," he started slogging back through his mental checklist to distract himself.

XXX

Curtis stared across the empty workshop. Today was Christmas Eve and Curtis had found himself at the workshop and hour early. He was surprised to see lights on in the teddy bear department. "Who is here so early," he mumbled to himself as he squinted trying to make out the lone figure sitting at a table. "Oh, yeah," he frowned remembering about Santa telling him last night how Bernard had been spending most nights making toys instead of sleeping.

Curtis stood there a few seconds longer debating on whether to go on or turn back and maybe go to his office or back to his rooms. With a sigh he stepped into the workshop and made his way across to the teddy bear department. He needed to get this over with sooner or later so might as well do it now while there was no one else around watching.

"Bernard?" Curtis spoke as he approached the elf from behind. Bernard jumped at the sound of his voice. He turned around wide eyed and tense.

"Oh, I didn't realize anyone else was here yet," Bernard's shoulders relaxed as he turned back to the teddy bear he was holding. Curtis moved forward to see what the Bernard was doing. He silently watched as Bernard fitted a blue winter hat on the bear before tying a knitted blue and white striped scarf around its neck.

"Nice scarf. Did you make it?" Curtis asked quietly.

Bernard shook his head without looking away from the bear. "I don't knit."

"Oh, of course not," Curtis felt silly for asking the question, he already knew Bernard didn't knit. All the knitted scarves he wore had all been gifts. "Who's it for?"

"April McAllister."

Curtis scrunched his brow in thought. "But isn't she in her late twenties now?"

"Yeah. She has a daughter that's five but somehow she still believes in Santa. She helped her daughter send a letter to Santa and sent one of her own asking for this bear," Bernard adjusted the scarf. "She had a similar one when she was her daughter's age. With the time crunch this year there's no way April would get a present from us, so I decided to make her the bear myself," he held the bear up towards the light to inspect it. Curtis stared at him in amazement. Bernard had a way of thinking of everyone, not just the children like everyone else. Bernard liked to include anyone that still believed. A few times he had even included a few that didn't believe, but that changed after they received their gifts Bernard had made sure had been sent.

"I'm sorry," Curtis blurted out.

Bernard gave him a puzzled look. "What?"

"I'm sorry about what a said a few days ago," Curtis fiddled with the tassels on his scarf. "I didn't mean it. I think…I think you do a great job around here. Better than I ever could. Bernard's eyebrows shot up and Curtis took notice of the dark circles under his eyes. "I wish I had your job sometimes. The elves always listen to you better than me but I guess it's probably a good thing that you make the decisions and not me," Curtis picked up a teddy bear wearing a tux and a top hat. "Anyway, sorry." Curtis watched as an emotion he couldn't identify passed over Bernard's face.

Bernard slowly nodded. "It's okay." They both jumped at the sound of a sudden beeping to the tune of jingle bells. Bernard lifted up his wrist and inspected his watch and shut off the beeping. "I'm going to go take a nap," he stood up and stretched.

"Sleep a few hours, Santa has been complaining about you not sleeping enough."

"He complains about that every Christmas."

"True," Curtis admitted.

Bernard headed off slowly. He hadn't slept at all that night and the few nights before he had only grabbed a few hours of sleep each night. He had been working nonstop and it was catching up to him big time. His mind was sluggish and even now he found himself too tired to think hard. He had felt that way the last two days but it was probably a good thing. But now he felt better than he had been. He found some of his worries were already disappearing, he probably had Curtis to thank for that but he didn't want to admit it, especially seeing as he had also been the cause of some of those worries.

As tired as he was, he found himself walking with a bounce in his step that hadn't been there four days ago. He felt better about this Christmas. Even if things didn't go 100% like he wanted them too, next year there would be another Christmas that he could use to make up for it. He couldn't remember which Santa had said it, but after a Christmas that had been plagued by bad luck Santa had simply said, "Ah well, there will be another Christmas next year." It really was true, Bernard mused. No matter how bad Christmas got it wouldn't be the last, there would be another one to replace the bad one. Not every Christmas could be perfect no matter how hard he tried. He really needed to remember that

He paused on the stairs outside the workshop to look out at Elfsburg. The early risers were already beginning to bustle about. He took a deep breath of the fresh air hoping the chilly air would wake up his senses a little more.

"It's Christmas Eve!" a young elf screamed as he ran past the stairs. Bernard couldn't help but to smile at the young elf's excitement. _Another_ ye_ar, another_ _Christmas_ he thought to himself. The young elf's excitement was beginning to catch onto him, but for now Bernard needed some sleep. He'd save the excitement for when he woke up.


	5. Beginnings

So a quick and short update to start gearing up for Christmas! Usually I write then let it sit a few days before editing to make it better but I was eager to get this out. If I didn't do it now I would probably forget, college is so stressful and makes me forget everything else. I felt like writing, didn't know what exactly to write, then this came out. It has some more Quentin in it! I know its not as good as the others but go easy on me, okay?

I don't know if there is any interest in this anymore, but a big huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed and/or favorited! It always brightens me up and is much appreciated and motivates me to add to this. Might end up adding to my Reminder story as well, but what I want to add might end up here as a one shot too, who knows. I plan on doing something about when Bernard became Head Elf, it will include the crazy old Head Elf Alfred who went mad. So what do you guys think, yay or nay on the idea? As always feel free to shoot any ideas you would like to see.

Also, if anyone likes Death Note I started a story for that, it's a bit darker than this stuff of course.

Beginnings

All of the young elves were rushing to find something to look busy. Santa was dropping by to visit and it was rare that a Santa found time in his busy schedule to visit the young elves that were still learning the ropes. This made it a big occasion for all the young elves. Their teacher, one of the oldest elves at the pole, herded them back to the main classroom. Each elf had a project to work on to show their knowledge, whether it be making something, improving on something, or inventing something.

At his young age, Bernard had never gotten to speak to any of the Santa's before. His father always told him not to worry about it because once he spoke to one Santa, before he knew it there would be a new one. The last 50 years had been lousy for keeping on Santa's. Most had been lasting less than ten years, a very short span of time for Christmas Elves. But apparently the new Santa was a retired teacher who had taken an interest in how the elves were educated and wanted to meet the students. He had already lasted a year and everyone was hoping he would stay on for a while. Having the same Santa for a while made things a bit more stable. Besides, no one enjoyed training and explaining things to a new guy every few years.

Bernard was less than a year away from graduating and moving into working in the workshop full time. He already put in three days a week under close supervision. With Santa coming, this would be a good time to show case his invention and try to get it put into their arsenal of toys. Who better than to market it to than the big guy himself? His excitement was tinged with nervousness though, this Santa was new and he knew nothing about him. He had no idea if he would even be interested. At least he was taking an interest in the students. Some Santas just checked the list and delivered the toys, hence why they had a Head Elf to run things when Santa wasn't around.

"Class, let's work hard and impress Santa," their teacher beamed at him from the front of the large classroom that was riddled with desks and tables with finished and unfinished toys. Their teacher was of average height with a bit of a gut from too many sweets. Everyone called him Mr. Green due to the fact that he only wore the color green. There was debate among the students whether that was his real name or not but no one worried about it too much, the name fit the elf. They had another teacher, Miss. Tinnel who taught the younger students, but today she had stayed home sick.

Bernard sat in the back corner by the windows near the other ten students his age. Altogether they had fifty students, all taught in the same classroom. Usually elves from other departments would come in to talk and teach skills. When they weren't in the busy season, the older students started interning in different departments to find their niche, or in same case niches. it was a new program they were testing out to speed up the transition from student to worker and make it easier. Bernard had spent the last two months in Research and Development, one of his favorite departments. He had also enjoyed making snow globes but found that he preferred it more as a hobby than an everyday thing. He also enjoyed the painting department and carpentry, one of the most dangerous departments where all of the wooden toys were built before being sent to other departments to be finished.

"Santa! Come in come in," Mr. Green ushered the Jolly man inside with glee The man rarely got to interact with Santa, so this was not only a treat for the students but him as well. They started visiting with the younger students first, working their way towards the back. Bernard hurriedly worked on finishing up the second copy of his new invention. Butterflies were beginning to build in his stomach. He wanted so badly to impress. Unlike Quintin, he wasn't any good at sports. He only had academics to earn respect.

"Calm down, Bernard. Keep it up and you'll hurt yourself," Quintin warned from beside him in his accent.

Bernard let out a sigh. "I know. I just really want to get this accepted. He reached up and ran a hand through his messy, curly hair, wishing he hadn't forgotten a hat today. Without a hat he felt vulnerable, and with how messy his hair had gotten he imagined that he probably looked slightly crazed. During their break he had ripped his right sleeve during a game of Tinsel Football. How could he possibly impress Santa when he looked like a mess? He pushed up his sleeves to hide the rip and cool himself down. With how nervous he was getting, the back of his neck was becoming damp with sweat.

"Even if it doesn't get accepted, I'll take one," Quintin grinned at him. "It's kind of fun," his face turned thoughtful. "Have you thought about what department you want to go into when we graduate? I know you seem to be good at almost everything you try, but you should come into Research and Development with me. We could be a team!"

"That'd be nice," Bernard smiled. Quintin was by far his best friend. He didn't tease him for not being any good at sports and respected how crazy he was about his academics. He had gotten offers from both Research and Development and carpentry already. Quintin already had his heart set on the first and he too had been offered a position. Bernard had been torn between his two options, but now that he knew where Quentin was going, he was beginning to think he wanted to join his friend. They already worked there together on their current internship and it was something he would at least like to do for a few years. "I'm leaning towards it."

"We'd be the best team yet, mate!" Quintin excitedly clapped him on the back. "Oh, looks like it's almost our turn," Quintin calmed down and tried to make himself look busy again. Bernard picked up his invention and inspected it.

"These are our last two soon to be graduates Quintin and Bernard. Quentin will be joining the Research and Development Department when he graduates, I've heard nothing but good things from them," Mr. Green smiled brightly as he spoke. Bernard gawked at Santa as if he was meeting a celebrity for the first time. He swallowed down the lump in his throat and wiped his sweaty palms on his pant legs.

"Ah, I hear that Department is one of our smallest. It'd be nice to see it grow with some new graduates going into it," Santa stroked his beard in thought. "I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you, I'm looking forward to it," Quintin thanked Santa politely.

"Bernard here is my star pupil," Mr. Green exclaimed with pride. "He has already proven himself proficient in multiple departments and has the highest marks in his class. He's also an inventor and I believe he has something he would like to show you."

Bernard blushed and glanced down at his invention.

"What do you have for me, Bernard?" Santa lifted his brow in curiosity.

"It's my first original invention. It's a safe and easy to make toy. I call it a yo-yo," Bernard held up the blue yo-yo and demonstrated. "Quintin has already found special tricks to do with it to make it more fun," he handed it over to Quintin and let him perform them.

Santa's face lit up. "Very nice, I like it. I'll have to stop by Research and Development to see about getting this made for some kids."

Bernard beamed at Santa.

"Bernard here has a very bright future of ahead of him," Mr. Green clapped his hands together with joy.

"He certainly does," Santa agreed. "I thank you for your time Mr. Green, but I must be going now, I've got a list to start checking and a new toy to get out onto the line," Santa winked at Bernard.

"Yes, yes, thank you for coming; the students have been excited to see you."

"I'd like to come back sometime, I'm eager to see some of these bright elves get out into the workshop," Santa sauntered out with a wave to everyone.

"Well congrats, you got what you wanted," Quintin patted Bernard on the back.

"Thanks," Bernard grinned, already eager to get home and tell his dad. Maybe he could even use the good news into talking his dad into getting him the new sled he had his eye on. His current one was beginning to crack, no doubt by the end of the year it would completely bite the dust.

"You have been doing very good Bernard. If you keep up the work you could become a department head someday, or who knows, maybe the Head Elf," Mr. Green smiled pleasantly before turning to dismiss the class. Bernard got up and walked out with Quintin, trailing behind everyone else. The youngest students had taken off running, eager to get out into the snow for a snowball fight.

"Do you think it's possible?"

"Do I think what's possible?" Quintin pulled a pack of gum out from his pocket and popped a piece of pink gum into his mouth. They reached the end of the hallway and headed through the doors and down the steps leading to Elfsburg.

"That I could become a department head someday?" That was something he could aim for. Not Head Elf, that was shooting way too far and practically impossible, but a department head might be a challenge he could attempt to rise to. It would be his biggest challenge yet and the idea excited him

Quintin shrugged. "It's not something I would want, too much work and responsibility. But if it sounds good to you go for it. I could see you in a position like that, you've always been an over achiever. Now come on, let's go get some cocoa and cookies to celebrate. I'll race you," Quintin took off running before Bernard could answer.

"No fair! You know you run faster than me!" Bernard yelled after him, struggling and failing to keep up. He didn't miss the laugh Quintin gave him.

"Come on Mr. Department Head, keep up!"


	6. The New Head Elf

Here's one more to keep you guys satisfied until closer to Christmas. Longest one yet! Some of what takes place in this one you might recognize from brief mentions in some previous one shots and my story The Reminder if you've read it. Enjoy! Look for some more author notes at the end, yo. As usual sorry for any mistakes, I can never seem to find them all when editing.

The New Head Elf

Bernard hurried down the handful of steps outside his apartment, tugging on his jacket as he went, the snow crunching beneath his brown shoes. The snow covered street looked deserted except for two young elves trying to build a reindeer out of snow. The gas lamps lining the street were still lit up in the dim light of early morning. He was eager to get to work. Quintin had told him the day before that he wanted to present a new idea for updating the sleigh. His best friend never had any ideas that flopped, at least not yet. Since they had gone to work together in Research and Development after graduation, they had given the department a good productive boost.

He trudged through the snow, noticing that there was freshly fallen snow and guessed that the top leading to the outside had been opened again. Either that or Christmas magic had been used to make it snow beneath the ice. That just kind of seemed to happen on its own with no one controlling it. It was a point of awe for everyone. It always snowed at least once a week in Elfsburg and on the days that they got a new coating, the younger elves were quick to start fights and snow building contests before the snow melted down or got plowed out of the way. Lighting of the pole was also magical, light shone through the ice top despite it having feet of snow on top of it, only a small portion was kept clear for Santa and elves to get in and out. Not only that but it came and went in a twelve hour night and twelve hour day cycle all the time, even when it wasn't like that on the surface.

He stopped at the large ornate staircase leading into the workshop and admired the sight. He still couldn't believe he had become head of Research and Development. He had held the title for just over one hundred years now. When he had been granted the position, it had made him the youngest department head in the history of the North Pole. The only downside was that he enjoyed working in other departments as well, and being head of a department made that harder to do. At least when they were looking for new ideas or problems to fix, it let him get out and into the rest of the workshop. He didn't like staying cooped up in one department, it made him antsy. Quintin on the other hand had no desire to ever leave the department. He was perfectly content.

Becoming the head of the department had been an honor, but he had been part of one of the smallest departments. There hadn't been many to choose from, only ten elves worked in it and that included him and Quintin. Only one was female, there had been two when Bernard started but one had retired to open up a sweet shop in town with her sister from the kitchens. None of the older elves with a little more seniority had wanted the position. Most of them planned on retiring soon and didn't want their last stint in the department to be too stressful. In the end, the old department head had chosen Bernard, believing that Bernard had the most diverse range of talents and would do well in the position, especially since it meant a lot of interaction with the other departments. No matter what, being a department head was an honor, even if it was one of the smallest ones.

In his eyes, his department was one of the most important, even if most of the elves had a tendency to forget about it. Their department was the one that came up with upgrades and improved the work shop along with hearing and creating ideas for new toys. It kept the workshop progressing and helped keep them up with the times. It was where some of the brightest minds ended up. The brightest minds from other departments often did short stints in Research and Development to help improve upon their own departments. Bernard felt proud of his department and he was proud to be leading it. It was a dream that he hadn't expected to ever come true.

He jogged up the stairs, being careful not to slip on any of the freshly fallen snow. He opened one of the large doors and strolled into the workshop. The fresh smell of cocoa greeted him along with a hint of cookies. Early morning wasn't his favorite time of the day, he hated first getting up in the morning, but he cheered right up once he made it to the workshop. He made a quick right to hit the first flight of stairs leading to the second floor. His department had a small set of rooms to themselves in one of the hallways built around the main center part of the workshop. Looking down, he slid up his sleeve to check his watch. As usual, he had arrived twenty minutes early. Early risers were already bustling about the workshop with smiles and in some cases tired eyes. The place still looked rather empty with over half of the elves still missing.

No one else had arrived to his department yet, that wasn't unusual, he was usually the first. He turned the gas lights on and got the place ready for another productive day. In the first and main room, charts and drawings were set up against the walls along with prototypes sitting on a shelf along the far wall. A long chalkboard lined the front of the room. In front of it, they had a large round table that they used for meetings and discussions. The far side wall had a large window with a curtain over it, when the curtain opened they had a nice view into the center of the workshop.

He frowned upon the realization that he had forgot to fill up his thermos with cocoa to bring with him. No matter, he could eventually get some from one of the kitchen elves when they did their rounds. It wasn't what he preferred; he liked using his own thermos instead of the kitchen cups that had been used a million times over by other elves. There was also just something he enjoyed about drinking cocoa he made himself. However, he could be forgetful upon waking up in the morning. At least once a week he forgot his thermos and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get that number lower.

"Morning, boss," Quintin greeted as he walked in. He stretched his arms and yawned. "You're in early."

"So are you," Bernard pointed out. "You said you had something to show today?" Bernard sat down at one of their large round tables and leaned forward eagerly. "It's been a long time since any adjustments have been made to Santa's sleigh, something needs to be done about the problems Santa has been having with it.

"Yeah, once everyone else gets here. I have it locked up back in the storage room along with blueprints and everything. I'll go get it," Quintin slowly made his way towards the back room where everything was stored, right next to the room where they built their new designs and products.

While he waited Bernard headed into his office to store his scarf and coat for the day. Even though he had his own office he didn't like it much. The office was practically closet sized and too cramped for comfort, he preferred sitting in the main room as long as his concentration could handle it. With that done he took back his seat at the round rest of the workers began filing in, most still looking half asleep yet.

"Have a seat everyone, Quintin has something to show us," Bernard greeted them. Unfortunately, none of the others caught onto his excitement, they were still trying to wake up enough to be able to pay attention. Quintin meandered back in with a large box in tow on a wagon behind him. He started going over his presentation, explaining the issues the new stabilizer would solve for the sleigh. Bernard paid closer attention than anyone else, enraptured by the new design. Just as Quintin finished the Head Elf Albert walked in, breaking Bernard's spell. Everyone quietly turned to look at him.

Bernard did his best to plaster a smile onto his face. He had heard of the Teddy Bear incident the previous month. Albert had been carrying that bear everywhere until he got into a fight with it and shredded it to pieces in front of a bunch of elves. The elf was going a little loopy and everyone became nervous when he was around let alone when they had to talk to him. Bernard didn't miss the streaks of gray in the older elf's hair. That only happened when Elves started to lose their Christmas spirit, Christmas magic kept them looking young but without it they would age and die.

"Can I help you with something?" Bernard stood up from the table. Everyone else looked at him as if he were a hero for not making someone else talk to Albert.

"Just checking to make sure you are getting work done. No one seems to want to do anymore work around here. The doll department is a little behind, I might be moving all of you there for a few days," Albert's gaze jumped all over the place in the room, not staying in one spot for long. All of the other elves stared at Bernard, begging him to do something with wide eyes.

"I don't think we can do that. We are working on getting a new stabilizer for the sleigh. Wrapping usually has a few people willing to help out in other departments when need be," Bernard offered with his fake smile still on. A girl from the kitchen walked in with a tray of cookies. Bernard checked his watch, she was just on time. He watched as a fleeting look of fear passed over her face upon seeing Albert there. It quickly disappeared, replaced by her cheerful smile.

"I have thumbprint cookies today. I know how you all like having cookies before you get to work," she held out the tray to show them the cookies piled on it. "I came as soon as I could. Would you like one, sir?" she offered the plate to Albert who scowled down at the cookies.

"I don't like thumbprint cookies anymore," Albert jerked his arm out and wacked the plate of cookies right out of her hands. The plate flew into the wall near the door, shattering and leaving a trail of cookies in its wake. Everyone stared in stunned silence, tears welling up in the small kitchen girl's eyes. She broke the spell by turning and running out.

Bernard's brain froze up on him, drawing a blank as he stared at the Head Elf, mouth wide open. He didn't want to believe that he had just watched the Head Elf smash a plate of cookies, but he had. In a few days the story would probably be all over the North Pole, unnerving the elves even more about Albert. His graying hair had been enough to send the gossip mills running; now all of these new incidents would have the elves in an uproar pretty soon. What could he say to Albert that wouldn't make the elf blow up on him? He had demoted an elf in wrapping the previous week for wrapping a present in wrapping paper that Albert decided he didn't like the color of. Bernard really didn't want to lose his position, if he got demoted there was no way he could stay happy. He'd end up graying and going crazy like Albert.

"I'm going to the kitchens to get _good_ cookies," Albert huffed before storming out.

"Um, should we get someone from the cleaning crew in here?" Quintin stared at the shattered plate surrounded by cookies.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea," Bernard agreed. Still feeling dumbfounded over what he had just witnessed, he sat back down in his seat. One of the older elves, Julius, leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. His shaggy blond hair hung over his eyes. He had hundreds of years on Bernard, but in reality looked three years older than him. He was also taller than him, but Bernard was still growing yet. Like his father, he hadn't stopped growing after graduating school. The growth was small but steady enough to be noticed now and then.

"I think it's about high time we get a new Head Elf," he whispered while glancing at the door. "Albert isn't going to get any better."

"But that is Santa's job, and well…the current Santa hasn't been coming up here much," the elf beside him, Emmett, piped in.

Bernard nodded in agreement. "I don't know if I would trust him to make a new appointment either, I don't know if he could make the best decision with only being here a few weeks out of the year."

"I heard he wants to retire," Quintin joined in. "Maybe the next Santa will get more involved. Then he can appoint the new head."

"Yeah but what if Alfred…you know," Julius mimicked an explosion with his hands. The others stared at him confused. "You know…turns to dust. I mean, did you see his hair? I've never seen an elf get so gray."

"But that's so rare, Quintin took his glasses off to wipe off a smudge of dirt. "I don't know if things will get that extreme. Besides, I've heard the turning to dust thing is just a myth."

Julius shook his head frantically. "It happened once right after I started school right after everything had just been built. Some elf from wrapping went bonkers and decided he wanted nothing more to do with Christmas. He tried to run off but he wasn't allowed to leave. A month later he turned into dust when he showed back up at wrapping to yell at all the other elves there. I can barely remember hearing about it, but I remember my parents being panicked about it. There was fear that a few other elves might go the same way. Right after that the work days got shortened. Santa decided our days were too long and would just lead to stressed elves going mad."

Quintin stared thoughtfully at the smashed plate. "Maybe it'd be a mercy for Albert, but it would frighten all the other elves."

"Let's get back to work, this is depressing," Bernard murmured. "Julius, can you go find someone from the cleaning crew?"

"Sure thing," Julius was quick to leave and careful about stepping over the shards of plate that had found their way in front of the door.

"Do the rest of you think we should go ahead and make a finished version of the prototype and see about getting it onto the sleigh?" Bernard spoke in the most business manner possible, trying to push the cookie fiasco out of his mind.

"Yeah but…" the elf furthest from Bernard spoke up, his voice muffled by the scarf still wrapped around his neck, partially obscuring his mouth.

"But what?"

"It would take approval from the Head Elf to put it on the sleigh and he hasn't exactly been thrilled to see anything we've tried to get out in the past few months. We don't need to do it right now, what if we make a finished version then wait to see what happens with Albert?"

Murmured agreements came from the rest of the elves.

Quinton nodded. "He has a point, Albert is already talking about moving us into other departments to work. He thinks we are a waste of space, I don't know if I want to bring this to his attention, it might be enough to encourage him to actually move us. I think we need to stay off of his radar for now."

Bernard mulled it over. "Let's take a vote on it. All in favor of waiting awhile raise your hand." All of the other elves, including Quinton, raised their hand. "I guess we'll wait then."

"One of the cleaners will be here soon," Julius spoke as he moved the pieces of plate out of the way with his shoes. "Apparently Albert made an even bigger mess in the kitchen."

"I hope we get a new Santa soon," the only female elf in R&D whispered from near the far side of the table.

XXX

Come Christmas they got their wish. No one knew exactly what had happened to the other Santa, but a new one had come back in the sleigh. Bernard had come in the morning to watch Santa return, silently hoping to himself that there would be a new Santa without really expecting it to happen. He had been surprised and relieved to see a new guy. Bernard had come to watch out of curiosity, it had been years since he watched a Santa return, not since he was in school. He was feeling stressed and hoped that watching Santa come back might cheer him up some. Of course, he did his best to avoid Albert and duly noted that the elf was carrying around a new teddy bear now, one missing an eye.

Albert had greeted the new Santa then walked away, leaving the man gaping at the sights around him in awe and confusion. Albert gave no indication that he realized it was a new guy, despite the fact that the man hadn't gotten the gut or white hair yet. Seeing this, Larry, a new graduate from school, waved Bernard over with wide eyes upon spotting him.

"Santa, this is Bernard, the head of R&D," Larry explained with an obvious tremor in his voice as he glanced around at the other elves nervously. No one else was paying them much attention. From what Bernard had heard, Albert had blown up on the kid earlier, not liking the fact that a new recruit had been put on duty for the night. Come to think of it, all of the stable elves seemed kind of edgy. Usually there was at least some interest whenever they got a new Santa. Instead, everyone seemed to be trying to ignore him while keeping an eye out for Albert.

"R&D?" Santa turned his confused gaze onto Bernard. The new Santa was older than the last one had been, nearing the end of middle age by the looks of him. He wore rounded glasses and didn't even have a shadow of a beard. Beneath the Santa coat that hung loosely on him, he wore a tie with a dress shirt, vest, and tie along with dress pants. Quite frankly, he didn't look like the Santa Claus type at all. He seemed more like a business type that hated kids. Maybe his appearance was just deceiving. Bernard certainly hoped so. "What's R&D?"

"Research and Development. Welcome to the North Pole, Santa." Bernard looked back at Larry wondering why the elf had waved him over.

"Thanks," Santa said, his gaze going over Bernard's shoulder to look at the bustle of the stable elves behind him. Bernard couldn't tell if the glassy look in Santa's eyes was from sleep deprivation or disbelief.

"Albert is the Head Elf around here. He should have explained everything, but since he left, maybe Bernard can?" Larry sent Bernard a pleading look.

"Uh, I guess so," Bernard answered, unsure of himself but seeing no way out. Larry certainly wasn't qualified.

"Great!" Larry smiled wide before scurrying off to Comet's stall. Of course none of the other elves stepped up to help Bernard. No one enjoyed when a new Santa came back, they found it annoying. Every Santa went through the same stages of disbelief and denial that the elves found annoying for the first few days. All the elves preferred to leave it up to the Head Elf to deal with and with Albert acting loony, no one wanted to risk anything. Bernard stood in silence for a moment while the Santa stepped further away from the sleigh to get a better look at the workshop.

"Come on Santa, let me take you to your room, I bet your tired after that long trip," Bernard had things to do, mainly checking on how the stabilizers were coming along back in his own department. Then after that, he had to make it to lunch at his parents place. The other elves in his department would have places to be as well to celebrate. Basically, he didn't have time to stand around and let Santa keep looking and wasting time. The man would have a lot of time to gawk later. He gave the man a gentle push in the right direction before rushing on ahead of him.

"I keep getting called Santa, I'm not Santa," the man hurried to catch back up with Bernard. "And why did I get brought here? Is this some kind of joke? I need to get back home; I have a Christmas lunch to attend with my family and what are all of you kids doing here anyway?"

"You're Santa now, so congratulations, and we're elves, you know, Christmas elves?" Bernard grumpily remarked as he headed out of the main sections of the workshop and to the halls that led to Santa's private quarters and some of the offices.

"I think I've been kidnapped, If I don't get taken home right now I'm going get a hold of the police," the man's voice rose an octave higher.

Bernard stopped and turned to face the man. "Look, what's your name?"

"John."

"Okay, John," Bernard rested his hands on his hips. "And what exactly do you plan to tell the police? That a sleigh with flying reindeer kidnapped you and took you to the North Pole where the elves held you hostage?"

John's mouth opened as if to speak, then it closed again as he floundered to think of a comeback and failed.

"That's what I thought," Bernard turned and started walking again. "Judy should be somewhere nearby. She can get you a drink or some food if you're hungry. I imagine you will go home later in the morning. Now, here we are," Bernard opened up the door leading to Santa's room and ushered John inside. "As Santa you can come here anytime you want. Around Thanksgiving you have to start checking the list. If you don't come here we'll send it to you," he glanced towards the door and spotted Judy. "Judy, just in time," he waved to her. John didn't say a word, trying to take it all in and understand what was happening to him.

"Bernard? What are you doing here?" She set a plate of cookies and cocoa down on a corner table near them.

"Albert disappeared off somewhere, so I brought Santa here," he shrugged. He turned back to Santa. "I hate to be too hasty, but I got a lot to do today. It's Christmas after all. Now did you get everything I told you? Do you understand?"

"Uh…" John blinked blank at him.

"That's okay," Bernard held up his hands. "Judy, can you write down some reminders and send them home with John here?"

"I can do that," Judy smiled warmly at John who just shifted uncomfortably.

"This isn't my job, so I'll leave you with Judy. She can answer any other questions you have. Merry Christmas, Santa," Bernard gave him a nod before heading for the door.

"I guess I should just play along, huh?" Santa said just in time for Bernard to hear him. Bernard shook his head, feeling bad for Judy. At least she had experience with handling new Santa's.

XXX

"Bernard?" he glanced up from where he was looking over a possible design to upgrade the workshop train to see Abby, one of the new kitchen trainees, standing in the doorway.

"Hey Abby," he greeted as he eyed up the plate of cookies she held. She carried the cookies over and sat them down on the table next to him. He managed to snag two of them before the rest of the elves in the department converged on them before disappearing just as fast as they came.

"Santa is asking for 'that Bernard kid,'" Abby informed him.

"He's here?" he spoke through a mouthful of cookie. It had been two months since Christmas and Santa hadn't made a public appearance at the pole yet, though he had heard from Judy that John had been back but staying low key while he learned everything. Normally the Head Elf would just handle things, but since Albert had gone off of his rocker, that wasn't going so well and he seemed to be getting worse with each month. Since Christmas, his hair had gone completely gray and the sparkles on his cheeks had completely vanished. He was moving more slowly and getting a lot more forgetful. Basically, he was turning into an old elf without magic, and a crazy one at that.

"There's been…an incident," Abby whispered to him then glanced around nervously to make sure no one else had heard. "You're wanted in Santa's office ASAP," she picked up the now empty plate.

"Alright, coming," he stood up and stretched. Quintin glanced back at him from where he stood at the chalkboard writing up some formulas that Bernard couldn't make sense of. "I'll be back in a bit, keep an eye on things," Bernard informed him before following Abby out as Quintin went back to what he had been doing. "What's this about?" Bernard asked once they were out of earshot.

"It's Albert," she leaned in closer as she walked, "he turned to dust yesterday."

Bernard stopped in his tracks. "Are you…are you serious?"

Abby nodded with a frown.

"What's this have to do with me?"

Abby shrugged. "I was just told to come get you."

When they got to Santa's office, they found him sitting behind his desk reading the Handbook. Bernard took notice of the fact that John's beard had started coming in and he already had a gut. That was a little faster than normal, but the ones to transform faster were usually the ones who hung around at the pole the most.

"Ah, Bernard," Santa greeted him and closed the book. "Thank you, Abby."

"You're welcome, Santa," Abby curtseyed before leaving.

"Please, have a seat," Santa smiled kindly at Bernard. Compared to the last time Bernard had seen him, he looked like a completely different man, but in a good way. For one thing he didn't look as frazzled and his red cheeks made him look much happier. Bernard took a seat in the leather chair sitting in front of the desk.

"You're head of Research and Development, right?" he squinted at Bernard.

"Correct, sir," Bernard sat stiffly, feeling a bit awkward.

"From what I hear, you were the youngest to ever become a department head."

"It was, and still is, an honor," Bernard leaned back in the chair to try to get more comfortable. His mind began ticking through a million and one reasons for why he might have been called into Santa's office, and most of them weren't good.

Santa nodded eagerly. "I've heard nothing but good things about you. You were one of the first that I met here as well. You're not a patient one, are you?" Santa laughed at the memory.

"Have I done something wrong?" Bernard asked quickly. His mind checked for any possibility and came up blank.

"No, no, not at all. I don't know if Abby told you, but Albert has…passed on," Santa lowered his head.

"She told me, it's very tragic, he'll be missed," Bernard did his best to sound respectful.

Santa nodded. "Without a Head Elf, all of his tasks aren't getting done. I'm asking a few elves to pitch in until a new Head is appointed. I understand that it's my job to do so, but I don't feel comfortable with making a decision just yet. Would you be willing to do a few extra tasks until then?"

Bernard raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Of course, anything to help out."

XXX

The next eight months flew by. Bernard struggled to just keep up with eating and sleeping. Along with keeping up with his own department, Santa seemed to have dumped at least half of the duties of Head Elf onto him. Without the fear of Albert lingering over the elves, everything seemed to have picked up at the pole. All of the things the elves had been too frightened to ask Albert over what seemed like the past year were suddenly falling onto Bernard while Santa was gone. The elves were more than eager to talk to him and didn't seem to notice how tired or grumpy he got.

"I don't get why I'm being asked to do all of these things," Bernard told Quintin as they cleaned up the pile of blueprints in the R&D department. Bernard had let everyone else go home early; they had already finished up everything they had to do for the week. "He'd be better off asking someone else who is less busy and a little more experienced," Bernard tied a rubber band around a rather large blueprint once he rolled it up.

"Maybe you're just underestimating yourself. I mean, you a_re_ the head of R&D after all,

And not just anyone becomes a department head."

Bernard let out a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, but doing department duties and Head Elf duties are completely different. It's becoming near impossible to get everything done. I haven't been getting home until near midnight for the past week."

"Midnight?!"

Bernard nodded solemnly. "Santa has had me looking over figures and write ups about improving the pole. He figures since I'm head of R&D I'm the best elf for the job. Not only that but apparently in the last few months Albert demoted _a lot_ of elves for petty reasons. They've all been sending in appeals for their jobs back. I have to read them all and okay it. I do all of that after hours, plus other odd things I end up with. After hours is also when Santa likes to meet to discuss the previous demotions and possible plans for the pole and that's only the tip of the iceberg. Albert really made a mess of things."

"Wow, well that explains why you seem to have disappeared lately. The only time I run into you anymore is when you're frantically rushing from place to place," Quintin gave him a sympathetic look.

"Yeah well next month we are going to need to hold a big meeting with Santa, our department, and the mechanic and carpentry elves to go over all of the possible improvements and renovations."

Quintin let out a low whistle. "Sounds like Santa is really getting into this. I heard he was some sort of manager and it's definitely showing."

"Yeah," Bernard stifled a yawn.

"Look, you obviously haven't been getting enough sleep; the dark circles under your eyes have been getting worse and worse. Go home and get some shut eye, I'll finish up here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'd rather spend an extra half hour here than do everything that you have to, it's no problem."

"You're a lifesaver."

Quintin grinned. "I know."

Bernard headed for the door, the thought of taking a nap sounding better and better the more he thought about it. He was barely out the door before he heard Judy calling for him.

"Santa wants to see you," she informed him a smile.

He suppressed a groan and followed Judy, so much for that nap. They found Santa reading the pole's newspaper with his feet propped up on his desk. The pole covered news at the pole and the biggest news stories from around the world and any other information deemed important enough.

"The Daily Pole is just fantastic," Santa exclaimed as Bernard approached. "It has everything!"

"I know the newspaper department takes great pride in it," Bernard stood straight and clasped his hands behind his back.

"You look tired Bernard, so I won't keep you long," Santa laid the newspaper down on the desk. "I'll cut right to the point. I'd like to offer you the position of Head Elf."

Bernard stared at him in shock, his mouth falling open. He waited a moment to make sure Santa's wasn't just joking around with him.

"That's quite the offer Santa…are you sure?"

"Of course! You were the youngest elf to ever become a department head after all. You've handled everything wonderfully and you're already skilled with more than ten departments. The elves like and trust you; you strike me as just the elf for the job. You can think about it of course, you don't have to give me an answer right this moment."

"Then I'd like to think about it, I'm just…really tired right now."

"I understand, go take a nap now, you look like you could use one," Santa picked his newspaper back up.

"Thanks," Bernard walked out, still in disbelief over the situation. He had been frustrated with how long it was taking Santa to appoint a new Head, and now he was offering him the job. It was beyond his wildest dreams and his brain refused to make sense of it. At the moment, his brain refused to think about anything. He really did need a nap.

XXX

He slept straight through to early morning without once waking up. He didn't remember Santa's offer again until he was in the middle of munching on toast for breakfast. He thought it over while he finished eating and showered. It was the offer of a life time, certainly. One he knew he would regret if he didn't accept. And yet was he really ready to leave his current position that he knew he liked, even if it did stress him out? Was he even qualified for the Head Elf position and would the other elves really accept him as the new Head? With Albert gone there would be no one to train him. At least it was the weekend and that gave him a lot of time to think it over.

All of his energy seemed to have been drained out of him over the past week. He found himself laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling while he thought over the offer. Wasn't this the sort of offer that was supposed to be a no brainer? He couldn't bring himself to just decide yes, so much would change if he accepted. It meant no longer working side by side with Quintin. As Head Elf he could still be involved with the R&D department, but it wouldn't quite be the same. He'd be working all over the workshop and pole, he'd have more responsibilities and more would be expected of him. The other elves would be relying on him.

If he was going to make a decision, he needed to distress to think a little more clearly. Thinking it over, he decided to take a short trip. This was the time of year when people started putting up Christmas decorations and Bernard loved to visit and see people gearing up to celebrate. To work behind the scenes was one thing, but to actually see the excitement in person was another. New York City sounded good right now. He loved looking in the store windows and seeing the big tree decorated outside. The new cities popping up were nothing like cities of a hundred years ago. Perhaps a short break away would help him make his mind up. If nothing else at least he would enjoy himself.

He made sure to put on clothes that wouldn't make him stand out too much. He kept his hat and Christmas colored scarf though. A little Christmas themed clothing wouldn't hurt anything, besides, he was so used to wearing it that without any of it he would feel too weird.

Humans had already put up all their Christmas decorations. Snow already coated the streets and sidewalks of New York City as snow steadily continued to fall. Café's advertised hot chocolate and Christmas themes cappuccinos flavors. Store windows were decorated for the holiday and people were already out and about working on their holiday shopping. Finding a toy store front window that wasn't too crowded with people, he stopped to look. They had a toy train track set up among a winter scene, tunnel and all. The tracks even ran through a model town that reminded Bernard of an old Dutch village. Next to the set up was a small Christmas tree decorated in silver ornaments and garland. It fit the train scene well.

Feeling a tug on his jacket, he looked down and found a girl that looked to be roughly six smiling widely up at him. She wore a black button up coat over a long red dress. A red head band kept her curly brunette hair out of her face.

"I sent Santa a letter over the summer, did he get it? I want a princess doll for Christmas," she let go of him and watched him with hopeful eyes. "Can you make sure I get one? I've been good, I promise."

Ah, Bernard wasn't surprised. Kids had a way of recognizing the elves even when they weren't dressed up. They had a way of just knowing. "Of course, Elizabeth," he knelt down to get face to face with her. He wasn't very tall himself, but the girl was on the shorter side, even for her age. "I'll check on your doll myself," he smiled as her eyes lit up.

"What's your name?" she half whispered her question.

"Bernard."

She scrunched up her forehead. "That's a funny name."

"Not as funny as Wilbur," he got a giggle out of her.

"That is a funny name," she enthusiastically agreed. "What do you do at the North Pole, Bernard?"

"Well…I'm the Head Elf, I manage the workshop" he couldn't resist saying it. Just saying it felt so satisfying. This is what everything he had worked for led up to, especially the long hours he had put in over the past few months. Head Elf, the highest an elf could go at the North Pole, second only to Santa.

"Wow," Elizabeth marveled over him and reached out and gently touched one of his curls. Bernard felt like marveling at him being Head Elf as well. To think of the days that he had dreamed of being a department head but found that impossible, and here he was, on the verge of officially becoming Head Elf. Sure he may have thought about it a few times when he was a lot younger, but he had never been foolish enough to believe that it could actually happen. Even now he wondered if the offer had just been a dream.

"Elizabeth, come on, time to go home," a women in a brown coat with fake fur appeared, eyeing up Bernard with suspicion.

"You promise I'll get my doll?" Elizabeth quickly asked.

"I promise," he agreed. With a smile, the girl hurried over to her mom. As they walked off she looked back and waved at Bernard. He waved back and climbed to his feet. First thing come Monday he would have to check on her doll. Chances were that with the mess Albert made she might not be on the list for a doll. Albert had chosen to have most of the doll requests fulfilled with Teddy Bears during his last week. A lot of things needed sorted out really, maybe he could do it. Maybe he could accept the offer and fix all of the messes and make sure as many kids as possible got what they had asked for, especially Elizabeth. It would be bigger than working in the R&D department; he could do more, change more, and get the pole back on track.

He wandered down the street, listening to the carolers that had started singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas. For a brief second he considered popping into a café for some Cocoa but decided against it. He had yet to find any that was just as good as the stuff at the North Pole. He stopped at another window showing off Christmas themed clothing and watched everyone bustling about. Some looked stressed and busy, but most of them looked happy, happier than he usually saw people at any other time of the year when he came down. There was just something about the Christmas season that cheered people up. It seemed to bring out the best in people. But wasn't that the point of the Holidays? Some let themselves get too stressed and forgot what Christmas was supposed to be all about while others let themselves get in the spirit of things.

He held his hand out and watched the snow accumulate on his glove while he thought the offer over one last time. Finally he made up his mind. Not wanting to waste any more time he teleported himself back to the pole and made his way to Santa's office. Santa was watching a handful of elves as they switched out some of the paintings and decorations in his office. Bernard knocked on the door frame to get his attention.

"Bernard, come on in," Santa cheerfully greeted him.

Bernard took a few steps inside before stopping again. "I just wanted to say that I've been thinking over your offer, and if it's still open, I'd like to accept," he wrung his hands nervously; half afraid that he had dreamed the whole thing or that Santa had already offered it to someone else.

"Well that's good news! I'm glad to hear that you accept. Go rest for the rest of the weekend, we got a lot of work to start on early Monday morning. I'm going to need you in top shape."

"Of course sir, I'll see you then," he scurried out, avoiding the curious looks the elves had been sending him. Come Monday, he'd be working as Head Elf; he still had trouble wrapping his mind around it. He needed to plan, to figure out what he wanted to prioritize, not everything could be done all at once. First thing Monday though, he reminded himself, he had to check on Elizabeth's doll. One present could make all the difference after all.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

So I hope you all enjoyed this one! I'm running out of ideas over here, I need to come up with some more. Have I been going in the right direction with these for you guys? Has my writing been okay or is it so horrible that it pains you to read it? Any characters you want to see more of in future installations? Feel free as always to suggest ideas but I can't make any guarantees. And don't be shy, review and let me know your thoughts! Even if you haven't before! Reviews inspire me to write more and give me a good sense of if I'm going in the right direction for you guys and writing stuff that you actually enjoy or not.

Also, I do have another idea or two I might use, but it may mean upping the rating to Teen. I usually write dark angsty things, so these one shots are way out of the comfort zone for what I normally write. I tried to write a lot of more uplifting stories before the impending angstier story or two slips in. If you are way against or for an angstier story or two, let me know.


	7. Introducing the Keeper of the Handbook

Here's a new, shorter one to make up for the last really long one. As a reminder, R&D stands for Research and Development as explained in the last chapter. As always, feel free to make suggestions, it might make it in (just like this one did!) And thanks to everyone who has faved/followed/reviewed. I enjoy feedback to know if I'm writing something that you guys enjoy.

Introducing the Keeper of the Handbook

It had taken a year, but Scott Calvin had turned out to be a great Santa. As far as Santa's went, Bernard didn't have many complaints. Scott was very involved; he knew how to cheer up the elves and motivate them. Best of all, the elves liked him too. Sometimes though, Bernard feared Scott might be a little too motivated at increasing production and cheerfulness, and now was starting to feel like one of those times.

Bernard crossed his arms and stared at Santa where he sat at his desk. Bernard stood straight and tall in his usual dignified manner. "I don't like where this conversation seems to be going, Santa."

"Nonsense Bernard, you need to loosen up some," Santa got to his feet and headed towards the door, Bernard watching him. "I've been thinking it over, asked for a few recommendations, and well, you know Curtis from inventory, right?"

"I'm the Head Elf, Santa, I know _all _of the elves," Bernard felt a little miffed by the question.

"Well, meet our new Keeper of the Handbook," Santa opened the door and Curtis stepped in.

"Reporting for duty, sir," Curtis saluted Santa who returned the gesture with a hearty laugh.

"Keeper of the Handbook?" Bernard's arms shot to his sides in alarm. "We've never had one before, why is Curtis 'Keeper of the Handbook' all of the sudden?"

"It's the only title I could come up with on short notice," Santa gave a small shrug. He made his way back to his desk. "His duties now consist of updating the Handbook and knowing it inside and out, and," Santa held up a finger while he sat down. "And now he also helps you with your duties as well."

Bernard's mouth opened in surprise.

"And I will put my all into it," Curtis gave a small fist pump into the air. "I already know the handbook better than anyone else and I have great organization skills and a great memory."

Bernard suppressed a groan. "I don't think I fully understand. I also don't understand why I wasn't asked about this in the first place," he gave Curtis an unimpressed look. Curtis didn't notice, he clasped his hands behind his back, mimicking Bernard's famous pose at the pole and beamed at Santa. He turned his head to look at Bernard who immediately looked away.

"I'll keep track of your schedule for you and make sure you don't forget anything. You won't have anything to worry about!"

"I think I can handle all that by myself just fine," Bernard frowned.

"Give us a minute please, Curtis," Santa eyed Bernard wearily.

"Sure thing, boss," Curtis cheerfully left. They could hear him greet Judy before the door closed again.

"Santa," Bernard fixed him with a stern stare.

"I thought you would be happier about this, you will basically have your own personal assistant," Santa threw his hands up in defense.

"Even if I needed a personal assistant and had been given a say in the matter, I wouldn't have picked him for the job."

"I like him and you were busy. I didn't want to put even more on your plate," Santa leaned back in his chair.

"You only like him because he knows how to suck up. If you absolutely had to do this without my input, Laney from inventorying or Mika from R&D would have been preferable. Or even Mikael from the control center."

"If Curtis doesn't do well enough I will let you put one of them in the job," Santa reached for the plate of sugar cookies sitting on his desk and gingerly chose a snowman.

"Am I not doing a good enough job here? Is that what this is about?" Bernard's expression hardened and he crossed his arms back over his chest.

Santa looked up in alarm. He finished chewing his mouthful of cookie before replying. "It's not that. I think you are doing a great job here, I just thought maybe you could use some help."

"Because I'm not up to par?" Bernard turned his head to watch the fireplace instead, not wanting to look at Santa.

Stunned, Santa studied him for a moment before answering. "No. I could never ask for a better Head Elf than you," he softened his voice. "You're the one who keeps everything together around here. I figured out of everyone, you deserve more time to relax. With Curtis, you can pass off all the duties you don't like onto him and give yourself more time off work at the end of the day. You've never done anything that made me question your abilities. I put Curtis in this position for your benefit, not his or anyone else's."

Bernard stared down at his feet, not knowing what to say. He felt uncomfortable, and despite Santa's words he still felt like Santa was dancing around the issue of him not being up to par.

"I used to work at a toy company, I know how stressful work can be, especially now as Santa. I have you to help me, but you don't have a specific person to turn to when you need extra help."

"I don't need a specific person to help me," he protested.

"Just give it a try. It'll help take some stress off your shoulders to keep you in top shape." Santa smiled warmly at him. "It'll make things more manageable for you. You can devote yourself to the important matters and let Curtis deal with the trivial ones so that they don't drain your time."

"I feel like you are just putting him in this position to train him as the next Head Elf," he still refused to look at Santa. There was no need to start training a new Head Elf yet unless Santa wanted to get rid of him. He still had hundreds of years left before he could retire, and Scot would be long gone before then.

With a sigh, Santa got up and went to Bernard, laying both hands on his shoulders, forcing Bernard to look up at him. "Never. I promise you that he is here to help you and nothing more. With the North Pole expanding, you could use an assistant. Besides, I can't see him as ever being Head Elf material."

Bernard smiled at that. "He isn't."

"Time's a wasting. Get back to work and take Curtis with you. He needs training and I need to find Judy to see about getting some more cocoa."

"Yes, sir," Bernard said respectfully before turning to the door. In the hallway he found Curtis talking to a bored looking Judy. "Judy, Santa needs more coca."

"Right away," her face brightened up. She practically skipped away from them.

"Come on, we have work to do," Bernard motioned for Curtis to follow him.

Curtis scurried to catch up, and when Bernard glanced over at him, he saw the younger elf holding a notebook and pencil. He was positioned as if her would start writing at any second.

"What's that for?"

"For taking notes. I want to make sure I don't forget anything"

"Oh," Bernard really didn't know what to say. If anything Curtis seemed a little too eager. In time, the stress would knock that out of him. He still seemed like too much of a suck up to Bernard and he didn't like that. He himself had always gone through great lengths to make a statement through his abilities and work without gloating, not by sweet words and compliments and trying to be a teacher's pet. Every year in school there was always one kid that was the suck up, and he could never stand them. Those years were enough to make him bristle whenever he had to deal with someone like them.

"So...where to first? I heard Dasher is sick and the painting department is running low on blue paint."

Bernard stopped walking and Curtis almost bumped into him. "Actually, you are going to go check on both of those, while I go do other things."

"What?" Curtis's head snapped up, a look of alarm on his face.

"Since you seem to be so well prepared you should be able to handle it just fine."

"Oh...Uh...Where will I meet back up with you?" Bernard had gotten him. Curtis wanted to appear capable and prepared.

"I'll come find you," Bernard walked away from him, leaving him standing outside of the kitchens looking bewildered.

This was going to be a long week and he wouldn't let Santa get away with this so easily. He'd bring it up every day if he needed too. The least Santa could do was replace Curtis with Mikael. Worst case scenario he'd wait until the next Santa to get Curtis replaced. Either way, he didn't want to have to put up with the younger elf. He'd rather go back to R&D before putting up with Curtis every day.

He let out a huff of air before putting on a smile for the elves. He almost felt bad for the stables and painting department for having to put up with Curtis. Almost, better them than him.

"Hello, Bernard," three elves from wrapping chorused in unison.

"Susie, Jonathon, Madison," he greeted. It was time to forget about Curtis and get to work. However, he'd have to arrange another chat with Santa soon.


	8. A Frosty Challenge

This seems to be losing steam, hardly anyone seems interested in more additions so here's to one more try. It's getting harder to think of ideas. This one helps explain why Bernard acts the way he does to Jack in "A Frosty Problem." As always reviews, feedback, and ideas are MORE than welcomed. It's easier to think of ideas when I know what some people are interested in reading. It'd be nice to know if people are still reading these things and what ya'll want. Remember, you don't even have to have an account to review, you can post anonymously!

A Frosty Challenge

To say that Bernard and Jack Frost started out with a rocky relationship would be an understatement. During Bernard's eighth year as Head Elf, the council meeting for Legendary Figures had been moved to the North Pole on the first of December. Even with eight years under his belt, he still hadn't gotten used to the stress of Christmas approaching that came with being Head Elf let alone with a council meeting thrown in the mix. Besides, eight years wasn't a long time to the elves. The Santa that year for his fifth year in a row was a man named Gregory Shulze, a man from a small town in western Germany. He was an optimist to say the least; he had the sort of personality that regarded everyone warmly, even those who didn't deserve it, including a certain Jack Frost.

Until that year, Bernard had never come face to face with the legendary figure. Frost had little reason to visit the pole, and only did so during council meetings. The chaos he often caused was talked about for weeks at the pole after every appearance made by Frost, making Bernard fully aware of the mischief the man often caused. Not wanting to let the man screw anything up on his watch, the elf swore to himself that he would keep an eye on Frost and get him out of the North Pole as fast as possible. He even sat in on the council meeting to keep an eye on the legendary figure. Unfortunately, his fervent dream came crashing down with the council meeting ran over its expected time and the kitchen elves started whispering all the problems happening in the workshop in his ears. Two sick reindeer, a crack in the sleigh, a load of snow globes shattered, a backup in wrapping, and finally a shortage of coal finally made him crack and leave to get some of the issues taken care of. Despite the meeting having no near ending in sight when he had left it, within half an hour of him leaving, Jack Frost had unleashed himself upon the North Pole.

"Uh, Bernard," Susie from wrapping nervously approached him while he was leaving the stables from his check up on the sick reindeer. Stable elves bustled about, the noise of them talking and signing made it hard to hear.

"Yes?" he didn't stop walking, forcing her to walk with him to talk.

"Jack Frost is in wrapping." Those words were enough to stop him in his tracks. "He froze some of the wrapping paper." He didn't need to hear anymore, he took off at a sprint towards wrapping. Every possible problem imaginable ran through his mind. He half expected to find the whole department and all the elves frozen by the time he got to it.

When he burst into the department he found the rolls of wrapping paper at the tables frozen solid along with their wooden holders, making it impossible to just replace the paper. The holders speeded wrapping up; the paper could be pulled out or quickly rolled back up. It also caused less mess without having wrapping paper tubes rolling all over the tables. But at the moment they were useless as long as they remained frozen.

"I just couldn't stop it in time, it's usually not that bad when I do that," Jack rambled on to the nearby wrapping elves who were glaring at him.

"What happened?" Bernard fumed at Frost.

"Who are you?" Frost blinked, unimpressed at Bernard's appearance.

Bernard stared at him flabbergasted for a moment. Had he not paid any attention in the meeting? Before it started he had introduced himself to explain why he was there. Or was Frost just that dense? "I'm Bernard, Head Elf, now explain yourself," he rested his hands on his hips, trying to look as intimidating as possible to the taller man.

"I sneezed."

"You _sneezed?"_

"Yeah, I think I might be allergic to reindeer. Sometimes I just lose control for a moment when I sneeze. I didn't _mean_ to freeze the wrapping paper."

"Shouldn't you still be in the council meeting?"

"I needed a break; the meeting was starting to get _really_ boring. I wanted to stretch my legs, they were beginning to cramp," he shook one leg as if to further make his point.

"Well get back to the meeting," Bernard pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say, Berny."

"It's Bernard," he glared at Frost.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what I said," Frost waved his correction away as he started in the direction of the kitchen.

Bernard twitched at his words. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Put some towels under them to catch the water as the ice melts. In the meantime, you're going to have to wrap without the holders. It's a little more time consuming I know, but it's the next best thing. I'll have to check to see about getting some more elves in here tomorrow to catch us up," he started to head for the door. "We still have several weeks to get caught back up, and that's plenty of time, just keep working hard and we'll be caught up in no time."

"Yes Bernard," three of the elves chorused together. He gave them a thumbs up as he hurried through the door. He started for the kitchen, searching for Frost on his way.

"Oh! What's this thing do?"

He groaned at the sound of Jack's voice coming from the carpentry shop when renovations were under way. Of course Jack hadn't gone right back to the meeting, that would be too easy for Bernard. Jack hadn't caused enough destruction for one day yet. Bernard turned and headed for the carpentry shop, his anger picking back up again.

"Get away from that!" an elf from the mechanical department yelled as he dove for Jack. They both went crashing to the ground, but not before Jack had pulled the blue lever down. A Crane that they had been using for some renovations swung sideways and dropped a large box of bricks right onto the train tracks. The conductor couldn't stop in time, sending the train crashing into the bricks. All of the elves in the area stopped their work and gaped at the destruction, including Bernard. The train's young conductor crawled out on shaky legs with a look that showed he was close to tears.

Seeing the look of horror on the conductor's face, Bernard snapped into action. "Someone run for a nurse. Let's have Evan checked out."

"I can go find one," Jack offered a little too enthusiastically.

"NO! You've caused enough damage. Either go back to the meeting or leave the pole!" Bernard snapped at him. "Thomas Sake, go get a nurse," Bernard didn't take his eyes off of Jack. Thomas, a short, young elf dressed in all green with a tool belt around his waist, took off running, eager to get away from the tension.

"I can be helpful! I hear that you have all kinds of problems right now, I could help," Jack beamed.

"No, just get out!" Bernard balled his hands into fists. He didn't like how cheery Jack was being about it all. The man really didn't seem to have any sort of remorse for his actions. "Get out before you kill someone."

"Bernard? What is going on?" Santa's concerned voice rang out over the shop. Until now, Bernard hadn't realized how quiet the carpentry shop had gotten. No one else made a peep. Even the shops outside the door seemed to have sensed something going on and quieted down. The elves parted to let Santa through.

"That… that is what is going on," Bernard pointed furiously at the wrecked train. "Jack Frost did that, and it's not the only thing he's done. He needs to leave."

Santa nodded solemnly. "Looks like it's time for you to leave, Jack."

"I don't get what the big deal is, it was an accident!" he held his arms out. "I think your head elf is over reacting. You should get one that isn't sotightly wound. He isn't even cheerful; I thought it was the law or something for Christmas elves to always be cheery. Out of all of the elves here how come the grumpiest one gets to be the boss?" he stuck his nose up at Bernard.

Bernard couldn't handle the rage building inside him at the legendary figure. He stormed out to not only to get away from the irritating man, but to keep himself from giving into his sudden urge to grab the nearest piece of garland to strangle the legendary figure with. The elves in the rest of the workshop had already started clearing out and heading home for the day. Seeing the anger on his face, none of them said a word as he stormed through the workshop. He decided to go home as well and once outside, he jogged through the freshly fallen snow to go to his own private rooms as fast as he could. He needed a break from the workshop and more importantly Jack. The elves outside were too busy planning the rest of their day to take notice of him as he passed by. The ice skating rink had already filled up along with the few cafes and shops in Elfsburg. Bernard didn't take notice of any of it; he was too focused on steaming over Jack.

Once inside his own rooms, he locked the door behind him to make sure no one would disturb him. He kicked off his shoes, unwound his scarf, and tossed his jacket onto his small dining room table. In his living room, he lit his big fireplace before curling up in a ball on the sofa to watch it. He focused on the fire, letting it lull him into a feeling of peace. His eyes watched the flames flicker and dance while the logs sizzled in the flames. Now that he had time to be alone in his own rooms, his stress was fading, although his dislike of Jack Frost burned brighter than ever. Nearly asleep now, a loud knocking at his door made him jump in surprise. He rubbed at his eyes and stretched, hoping that whoever it was would just go away. No such luck, the banging started again.

Disgruntled at the interruption, he made his way to his door and opened it. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that awaited him: an annoyed looking Jack Frost humming Grandma got ran over by a reindeer.

"Oh, there you are. Santa forced me to come apologize. I don't think I need to apologize for what I said, but I have to apologize for something. So I'm sorry if my words angered you Berny," he crossed his arms over his chest.

An exasperated sigh escaped Bernard. "It's Bernard, not Berny."

"Well goodbye then, Santa won't let me stay any longer thanks to you," Frost glared at him. "See you at the next council meeting, _Bernard,"_ with that Jack puckered his lips together.

"What are yo-" before he could finish his words Frost blew a jet of cold air at him strong enough that it sent him sliding backwards two feet. He grabbed at the walls, trying not to lose his balance. Unsuccessful, his arms flailed before he landed on his butt on the hard wooden floor with a hiss of pain. Jack slammed the door closed. Bernard shot back to his feet and grabbed for the door handle a little too late. The handle already felt as cold as ice and wouldn't budge. Moments later, ice seeped through the door crack and key hole, freezing the knob and door from the inside as well.

"Frost!" he banged at his door angrily to no avail. He could hear the legendary figure cackling before he disappeared. After another minute of pounding he gave up with sore palms. He considered putting on his coat and shoes and crawling out through a window but decided against it. It wouldn't matter, Jack was already gone and knowing their current Santa Bernard couldn't say anything to convince him to ban the legendary figure, especially with Frost being a council member. He leaned against his wall and slid down it. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his arms on them.

Feeling completely defeated he blinked back a few tears. What kind of Head Elf was he if he couldn't even handle Jack Frost? Ever since getting the Head Elf position he constantly worried about screwing up and losing it. Every day he felt like he still had to prove himself worthy. Jack's words in the workshop had hit a sore spot. Perhaps he did have a tendency to be a little grumpy, but at least he wasn't raving mad like the last Head Elf. He had let Jack Frost screw things up when they had already been falling behind. How could they ever catch up before Christmas? Chances were they wouldn't and it'd be all his fault.

By the time he realized his tears had spilled over, his cheeks were already soaked. He wiped them away and rested his head on his arms with a sigh. The thought of facing the workshop the next day made his stomach turn. He pictured the elves whispering about what had happened and how he had failed. With a groan he climbed to his feet and headed towards his kitchen. Right now he needed a cup of hot cocoa followed by a long nap.

Jack Frost had won this year, but he wouldn't let it happen next time. No, next time he'd be ready for him. And if he failed again, then he'd just have to keep trying. He couldn't let him embarrass him again or lose his temper, no. Rage welled up inside him and he slammed his hand down onto his counter. At least he now knew what to expect from Frost, he'd need to find a way to keep him out of the workshop.

He reached into his cupboard and grabbed his favorite candy cane striped mug. He vowed to not think of the frustrating man any longer and focus on enjoying a quiet night in. Come morning if the ice hadn't melted he'd have to go out a window, but he'd worry about that tomorrow. Now it was time to enjoy a night free of Jack Frost, he had hot cocoa and a nap to look forward to after all.


End file.
